Scars Are The Notes Of Love
by fika1603
Summary: When Seto has to choose between two of the people he loves in this world, what would be his decision? Sequeal to Piecing The Shattered Dragon
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: hey guys! i'm back, with a sequeal to Piecing The Shattered Dragon (PTSD), as requested (: initially i thought of making it a trilogy, starting with Blood Brothers. but i guess none of us has had enough of Seto and gang, right? Especially with the appearance of Seth.**

**anw, this fic will make more sense if you have read PTSD. but for those who haven't, well, you can always go back to PTSD later. but to help you guys with this fic, here's the characters low-down for you to get started with:**

**- Seto and Tea ended up as a couple somewhere in the middle of PTSD**

**- Mischa Hutama is KaibaCorp's image consultant, and one of the employees that is rather close to Seto to be regarded as a sort of friend**

**- Caroline Lobo is Seto's ex-fiancee from a fiasco once upon a time**

**- Seth is Seto's and Caroline's son, no thanks to a mistake**

**anw, hope you guys will like this chapter! review yea!**

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He looked on from outside the room as he watched the small blond boy bouncing excitedly on his bed as two girls folded his clothes and put them into an open suitcase. Well, the brunette was packing the clothes, anyway; the reverted-to-black-haired one was taking every chance she could to remove several pieces of clothing in the suitcase and replacing them with new ones.

"Mis, stop trying to attack his clothes," The brunette chided her friend, grabbing back a checkered shirt her friend had taken out. "He's still four. He doesn't need to look like a superstar."

Her dark-haired friend pouted as she slumped her shoulders. "Oh come on Tea, do you know how much I miss changing people's wardrobe? Mr Boss's wardrobe has changed considerably. And with you around, he dresses pretty well."

The brunette rolled her eyes as she replied, "Mischa, seventy-five per cent of the time he ditches all those nice clothes you mentioned for his trenchcoats." She placed the last piece of clothing into the suitcase and turned to the bouncing blond toddler. "All done, Seth! You ready to go stay with Mummy Caroline?"

"Ever ready!" The boy yelled happily.

Mischa frowned. "Isn't that a battery brand?" Then her face brightened up. "Oh hey, reminds me of a cheer that I did in high school. Are you ready? Eveready! Are you steady? Eversteady!" She caught Tea's blank look and mumbled, "Well, that cheer of mine was rejected, anyway."

Tea shook her head. "I'm grateful KaibaCorp doesn't require a cheerleading image consultant. Products wouldn't have sell. Unless of course they were selling batteries." She saw a familiar shadow looming near the doorway and sighed as she said in a louder tone, "Seto, you could have just come in since just now, you know."

Seth turned around to see a towering young man with the same blue eyes as him standing at the doorway. "Daddy!" he called out happily as he ran over to the man.

"Hey squirt," Seto scooped him up easily, carrying him in one hand while ruffling his hair with the other. "I see you've been packing."

The blond boy nodded enthusiastically. "Mama Tea and zia Mischa helped put my clothes in my sweetcase."

His father frowned. "Sweetcase? Oh you mean, suitcase." He cocked his head to the side to take a look at the zipped up suitcase. "And everything's all inside? No other things left?"

Seth shook his head, then he tapped Seto's shoulder and pointed to his father's company's image consultant. "But Zia Mischa tried to make me take new clothes. But I don't want them because they're ugly. I want the clothes Mummy got me because they're nice."

"What?!" Mischa shot the boy an incredulous look. "My clothes for him are ugly?" She glared at her employer. "I can't believe he takes after you even in the fashion department!" She diverted her attention to Seto's blond son. "Seth, listen to me. Your father has no taste in clothes. Your zio Mokuba has better taste. Follow him, follow me, but don't follow your father's. Got it?"

Seto shot her an evil look. "Do that again and I'll dock your pay." He bent his head to look at his son and said confidently, "Of course you'll follow in my footsteps and look great everyday no matter what you wear simply because you already looked good from the start, won't you?"

Seth beamed at his words. "Yuppee!"

While Seto and Mischa were 'arguing', Tea was propping the suitcase on the floor and readying it to be carried downstairs to the limousine that would send Seth to his mother's house. Now she stared at her boyfriend in disbelief as she stated her discovery, "Now I know where Seth has been getting all that egoistic streak from."

Seto smirked as he shrugged. "Like father, like son." His eyes landed on the suitcase and any trace of arrogance was removed as he asked softly, "Is it already time?"

Tea and Mischa exchanged uneasy looks as they nodded half-heartedly. Sighing, Seto picked up the suitcase with his free hand. "Well, then, guess it's time for us to go," he muttered as they exited Seth's room (it was not difficult to set one up for him; the east wing of the mansion – the only place designated for living space, since the other wing was converted to an in-house hangar – had more than enough spare rooms).

The quartet, with Seth still in Seto's arm, descended the stairs silently in tandem. Nana, the mansion's housekeeper, along with the rest of the servants and Seto's security men, gathered at the foot of the stairs to say their goodbyes to Seth. The little boy had entered the family unexpectedly six months ago, and everyone quickly fell in love with his warm and talkative character. Seth, on the other hand, immediately took to Nana, who offered him an entire plate of chocolate chip cookies on his first day in the mansion, much to Seto's displeasure, and his teenage uncle who had won him over with his sneakers collection. The moment Seth saw Mokuba's new pairs of Converse All Stars on that day, his blue eyes had gone wide as he blurted out, "Cool!" Mokuba had figured that a four-year-old capable of identifying how cool Converse sneakers were was too cool to spend time with his boring older brother and took as much time as possible to play with Seth.

After Seth yelled out an adorable goodbye to the other people in the house, and they had their chance to bid farewell to him, the trio continued on their way out to the limo. Just before they entered the black car, Seto hesitated, "Do we really have to go now? How about we wait for Mokuba to get back home?"

"We do have to get him to Caroline by 2pm, as stated by the court," Tea answered him in a barely audible voice. She knew that the real reason he was stalling had nothing to do with Mokuba; after all, the younger Kaiba had been the first person to say goodbye to Seth before he was whisked off to school in the morning. Still, they had to follow orders.

Mischa sensed the cloud of uncertainty hanging over the couple and announced that she would be following them in her own Mercedes, so they could have the limo to themselves. However, Tea quickly offered to ride with her, and Seto wasted no time in agreeing. The limousine carrying the father and son rode off first, with the Mercedes tailing it.

Seth snuggled up to Seto in the backseat of the limo as he rattled off about his new favourite superhero that he insisted was inspired by his father (Seto had a feeling it had to with his sense of dressing) and acted out excitedly the scenes in the morning cartoon where Batman pummeled the Joker, complete with sound effects. Seto looked on as interestedly as possible in a bid to humour his son, but he barely heard what the noise in the limo was all about as he drifted further into his thoughts.

_I had six months to make up for the three years I left you, but I wasted them,_ Seto's thought with a sharp stab of remorse. _Now I have three days a week forever to try and make up for all the time I wasn't there to watch you take your first walk, said your first word…_

He closed his eyes as he inhaled deeply. _I'm sorry, Seth._

XO XO XO XO XO XO XO

**_A little more than six months ago…_**

The moment the judge gave his verdict, and court was adjourned, the blonde Lobo Industries CEO turned to glare at her ex-fiance with as much spite as possible. However, she managed to grit out, "Congratulations. I hope you'll take care of him well for the next six months."

The said ex-fiance regarded her coolly as he replied, "Be grateful I decided not to put you into jail and completely take Seth away from you." He averted his gaze and proceeded to walk off, his purple studded coat billowing out behind him. "But if you can't fix yourself within the six months, then maybe I have to do that."

Caroline Lobo stared after the KaibaCorp CEO as he disappeared from sight. _Do you still hate me for everything, Seto? After all my apologies and my explanation, haven't you still forgiven me? _She wiped the stray tears from her eyes as she gathered her stuff. Today would be the last day she would see her son for the next half a year. The judge had accorded Seto rights to refuse Caroline visiting rights if he wanted to. Knowing him and how much he hated her now, Caroline could probably give up the hope of occasionally seeing her son.

She wanted to hate Seto; she had been trying since the day she found out she was pregnant and he was nowhere interested in taking her calls. But each time she nearly succeeded, she took a look at her son and realized she could never hate the man who had given her such a beautiful son. Seth possessed the best qualities from both his parents; the smooth blonde hair from Caroline and Seto's piercing blue eyes, to state the most obvious.

Her lawyer, a bespectacled man in his mid-forties with a bald patch, cleared his throat. That quickly gained her attention. Caroline understood what he meant and nodded. The two of them briskly exited the courtroom and headed for their own cars. They would have to go to the place where Seth was placed under temporary welfare care while his parents battled things out in court for the past two months. Both she and Seto had argued in disagreement over the arrangement, but the court had stood firm to their decision to keep Seth away from his parents until the case was settled.

Luckily, the welfare home was located not too far from the court. Caroline pulled up just outside the entrance and killed the engine excitedly. She missed Seth so much. However, the moment she stepped out of her Porsche, her excitement faded. She knew too well the black limousine parked in front of her.

Her eyes widened. _Seth! He can't take Seth! Not yet!_ She was just about to dash into the building when she stopped right in her tracks. A certain fellow CEO was striding out with her son in hand. Caroline fought back tears as she watched her son being led towards the limousine. _Don't take my son. Not yet. Please._

Just then, Seth saw her and yelled out, "Mummy!"

His father's head turned sharply in Caroline's direction, but he released his hold on Seth's hand. Seth wasted no time in bolting towards his mother's outstretched arms. "Mummy, I want to stay with you!" Seth cried into her chest. He tugged at her arm and pleaded again through tears, 'I don't want to stay with him! I want to stay with you! Mummy, I want to go home!"

Caroline stroked his hair and choked back a sob, "Honey, I want you to come home with me too, but you have to follow Daddy. You've always wanted to be with Daddy, right?"

Seth shook his head stubbornly. "No! I want to go home with you!"

Just then, a strong hand grabbed his shoulder from behind and dragged the screaming boy away from his mother. "Let's go, Seth."

"Mummy! Mummy!" Seth kept crying for his mother as he was gently steered into the limo. He tried to push the man away, but the latter was much stronger than him. Even after the limousine took off, Caroline could see her son peering through and pounding the window at the back of the vehicle. She did not have to hear to know that her son was crying out in vain for her.

XO XO XO XO

**Three months later, in Seto's study…**

"I can't believe the new school year's going to start real soon," Tea complained as she leant back into his shoulder. "It feels like as if the holidays just started."

Seto smirked. "My heartfelt condolences to the death of your holidays."

His girlfriend shot him a despised look as she got up and sat further away from him. "But of course, people like you don't understand the meaning of holidays," she retorted, annoyed. "Is there even the word holiday in your dictionary of life, Seto?"

The blue-eyed brunette snorted at the ridiculous notion. "Tea, holidays are just an excuse to while away from work. If people love holidays so much, then why do they keep complaining that they're bored and have nothing to do? Trust me, if they have work, they won't feel that way."

"That's your logic?" Tea was incredulous at his answer. "I can't believe this."

"Then don't" came the uber-simple reply.

She resisted the urge to take the laptop on his desk and crash it down on his head. The reason she did not do likewise was because she had ended up falling in love with the supercilious CEO. And also because Joey would never forgive her for doing something he had been wanting to do. At times like this, Tea wished her blond friend was with her. It would make trying to get back at Seto so much more easier.

Tea opted to change the subject. "How's Seth doing? Is he okay with you already?"

Seto said nothing for a while. Tea waited for him to speak up. He usually would, and he did. "I suppose. He's okay with calling me Daddy, and hanging around me. But I still feel he's not … accepting me like he accepted you, Mischa, Nana and Mokuba. As if there's something I've not given him."

Nana's and Mokuba's trick to win the boy over (albeit accidentally for the black-haired Kaiba) aside, Tea and Mischa were quickly accepted by him too. Tea won him over after she sat down with him one day and treated him like how she suspected Caroline must have. After two days of lollipops and home-made brownies as bait, he already called her Mama Tea. Mischa accidentally stepped into the Kaiba household from the rain one day, and with her smeared makeup and wet red suit, Seth simply laughed at the sight of her and called her 'Crazy Clown'. Tea had to remind him repeatedly that the said clown should be addressed zia Mischa.

Tea spoke out the solution quietly, "Let him meet Caroline, Seto."

She expected his heated reaction and his sharp answer, "No."

"Why not? She's his mother, after all."

"She kept his existence a secret from me until the kid's three years plus, Ti," Seto was starting to sound incensed. He had gotten out of his seat and was now talking over his shoulder as he stared out of his study's window. "Tell me why it's not okay for me to keep him away from her for three months."

_Because that's as mean as what Caroline did to you?_ She sighed and neared him, taking his hand into hers. With her free hand, she reached up and turned his face so their eyes locked. It took her by surprise when she saw not anger, but rather a well-hidden trace of anxiety in his blue orbs. Tea opted not to mention it to him. However, she did say, "Seto, tell me you don't feel sorry for Seth everytime you see him wishing for his mother." When he could not bring himself to deny it, she continued, "Do it for Seth, please, Seto. Maybe … just maybe, that could make Seth accept you more."

Seto seemed unconvinced. "And if it just makes things worse?"

Tea shook her head and leaned in to hug him, snaking her arms gently around him. "It doesn't hurt to try. And if you don't want to see her, that's okay. I can help send him over."

Her boyfriend bent his head to quickly peck the top of her head. "I'll think about it."

"Aren't you going to ask your typical 'why are you doing this' question like you always do?"

That actually caused him to crack a small smile. "Apparently your memory must have failed you, because I don't."

"Can you ever stop being stubborn?" Tea was starting to sound annoyed again as she playfully punched him in the stomach.

"Never."

XO XO XO XO XO XO XO XO

The door to the limousine opened, and Seth raced out of it. Seto skulked out of the vehicle after him. "Keep the engine running," he ordered. "I won't take long."

Seth was already tugging at his coat. "Come on Daddy!"

Mischa's Mercedes pulled up right behind the limousine, and out popped the two women who had became an important part of the CEO's life. They scurried over to Seth and rained him with hugs and kisses. Seto rolled his eyes at the sight. He turned to the security man beside him and issued his instructions, "Walk Seth until the door, and then pass the suitcase to whoever answered the door. Make sure he's safely inside the house before you leave."

Tea overheard him and reached out to grab the suitcase from the man's hand. "It's okay," She voiced out, shooting Seto a look. "I'll take him in." She held another hand out to Seth, who took out without hesitation. "Are ya ready kid?"

"Aye aye captain!" Seth straightened his posture and gave Tea a mock salute.

She grinned back, but wagged her finger at him. "Uh-uh. Hug, kiss and say goodbye to Daddy first."

Seth was only too happy to comply. Seto knelt to receive his son's embrace, and the father and son hugged tightly. Seth promptly planted a kiss on his father's cheek, but that move seemed to stun his father, who let his arms drop. With a quick wave and a goodbye yell, Seth dragged Tea as he bounded towards the front door of Caroline's sprawling mansion.

Mischa turned down Tea's offer to follow them in. But the Indonesian declined with a smile. "I don't think she quite forgave me for last time," she had explained weakly. Rather, she opted to stay outside with her employer, who witnessed his son near Caroline's doorstep with stoicness. Mischa had to prod his arm as she whispered, "Mr Boss .. ?"

Her employer replied emotionlessly, "I'll see him again next Friday, Mis." He turned to his driver. "Send Ms Gardner to wherever she wants to go after this. I'm heading back to the office."

"The office?" His driver echoed. "But how are you going to get there, Mr Kaiba?"

Seto snorted as he proceeded for the black Mercedes parked behind his limo. "I have my own ways." He looked sharply at Mischa. "Are you coming along?"

Mischa hurried to plonk herself into the driver's seat. Seto coolly got in beside her. There was no way she would risk having her dear darling employer ruin her beloved Mercedes. Especially since she had not finished paying the installments yet.

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**word glossary (Italian-English)**

**zio/zia - uncle/aunt**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: completed and edited this chapter earlier than expected, so i thought i'd just upload this. thanks everyone for the reviews and alerts (:**

**okay, now off to chap 2 for you all!**

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The heavy brass doors opened to reveal a blonde in a black Ellie Saab mini-dress, complete with some of the best diamond accessories money could buy. Not exactly what you would expect someone to be dressed in when they were at home, but Tea kept the comment to herself. Instead, she threw the well-groomed blonde a smile and gestured to the grinning blond boy beside her.

"All yours from now on, Carol," Tea tried to sound as cheerful as possible. However, her cerulean eyes were well aware that the blonde was peering over her shoulder to try and search for a particular someone. So that's what all this glamorous look is all about, she bit back her thought and added on, "I'm sorry, Carol. Seto still hasn't, well…"

The blonde shook her head as if to say no harm done. She bent down and gave her waiting son an uber-tight hug as she squealed, "Sethy! My Sethy's back!"

Seth clung to her as he babbled happily, "Mummy! Sethy misses Mummy a lot a lot!" He turned to face Tea, who was looking on. "Thank you for sending me, Mama Tea!"

Tea ruffled his hair playfully. "No problem, Spongebob. Remember what I told you?"

The blond boy nodded enthusiastically. "Work hard, but play much much harder! Just like Spongebob!"

Caroline wrapped a protective arm around her son as she spoke to Tea sincerely, "Thank you for helping to look after my son, Tea. And … thank him too. For being able to .. take care of and accept Seth."

"I'm really sorry, Carol," Tea replied. "He did send Seth here. He just … didn't want to come in."

Just then, Seth looked up and interjected, "Mama Tea, how come Daddy didn't want to come along?" He lowered his voice as he continued in a meek voice, "I want to show him my room."

Tea suddenly felt a stab of guilt, and a growing desire to smack her boyfriend in the head the next time she saw him. What was so difficult about coming here? After all, he would be here simply to send off his son – and see the said room, if he wanted. And Caroline would certainly stay out of his way, right? She suddenly thought back to the blonde standing before her, and the apparent reason why she over-dressed today. She frowned. As much as she sympathized and empathized with whatever Caroline went through, she still did not trust the busty blonde with her life.

Caroline got to placating Seth first. "Honey, Daddy will come by on Friday, I heard," She looked sharply at Tea. "Right?" The brunette nodded in affirmation. Caroline turned back to her son. "So you can show him your room then. Or you can take photos of your room and then show it to him."

Seth perked up on the spot. He hugged both his mother and Tea briefly before he fled into the living room, "Cammyra! Where's my cammyra?"

"It's called a camera!" Caroline called out after him.

Tea started to chuckle, but the blonde held up a hand. "I assume your task is done," Caroline spoke. Her stare was as acidic as her voice. "So you can leave now."

"Actually.." Tea was just about to argue that just because she was Seto's girlfriend did not mean she was equal to being something of his employee. Rather, she had played the mother figure more to Seth over the past six months.

"What?" Caroline asked again. An eyebrow shot up as she came to a realization. "Oh, you want to say a proper goodbye to him like a mother. Check the details again, Tea. I'm his mother, not you." She eyed Tea craftily as she mused coldly, "I've only seen my son twice for the past six months while a stranger gets to spend the entire six months with him."

Tea flinched at her words. She mumbled a goodbye that Caroline haughtily waved off as she walked away. Mischa's Mercedes was gone, but Seto's limousine was still there with its engine running. The driver dutifully opened the door for her. Just after Tea stepped in, she asked about her boyfriend.

"He's gone off to the office in Miss Mischa's car, Miss Gardner," the driver replied before closing the door. "But he told me to send you to wherever you wish to go to."

"Just send me to Kame Game Shop," Tea said absently. Firstly, Caroline ticked her off with her ungrateful attitude. Now Seto had set off without telling her and worse still, he did not completely see his son off. She has had enough of dealing with the Kaiba-related people.

XO XO XO XO

As expected, the gang was lounging about in Yugi's living room. The moment Tea appeared, however, the atmosphere brightened up. Joey reeled towards her and threw his arms around her as if he had not seen her for years. Tea had to laughingly pry one of his arms away to accommodate Tristan's and Yugi's hugs.

"Okay, guys, okay," Tea gasped after most of her breath was spent on laughter. "Okay, get off! Yugi needs to breathe. You two are crushing him."

Joey and Tristan backed away. Sure enough, Yugi had staggered to the nearest seat as he tried to catch his breath. "It's okay, guys," he wheezed. "I'll live."

His friends flopped themselves on the empty seats, all of them smirking to prevent themselves from laughing. Joey quickly snatched a can of Sprite lying on the table and tried to gulp it down. But he sputtered the drink back out as he let out a laugh.

"Sorry, Yug," Joey set the can back down. "Just that, y'know, little guy with big heart. I forgot you breathe with your lungs and not uhh… heart."

Tea and Tristan groaned at how lame Joey was sounding. Yugi merely shook his head and hurriedly changed the subject, "So, are we all ready to head for study camp before term break ends?"

Joey held up his schoolbag with more enthusiasm than any of them had ever seen. "This bag is filled with nothing but good ol' knowledge."

"Sure," Tristan interjected, hefting his duffel bag onto the coffee table. "But do you have the brains to go along with it?"

"Eh, what are you talking about, Tris?" Joey objected indignantly. He puffed his chest out. "I am smart, alright. I just don't use my brains much. Trust me, if I had wanted to use my brains, Kaiba would look stupid next to me." He threw a glance at his female friend. "No offense, Ti."

Tea shrugged. "Nah, it's okay. It's only people who have spent time with him like us who would know that for a self-proclaimed genius, he can be quite …"

"Dumb?" Joey excitedly completed it for her.

"Exactly."

Joey's voice turned serious. "Are you saying this because you two had a tiff or something?" When Tea shook her head, he pressed on, "Let me guess, you guys had a disagreement about Seth? Kid wants candy, you said yes, he said no?"

His female friend frowned. "Joey, that's stupid. No one gets mad at each other about that. No, I just said that because it's true. Sometimes he is dumb."

"Finally, someone other than me to criticize that snooty Kaiba!" Joey crowed.

Tristan called them to order. "Okay, guys. If you're all ready for two weeks of nothing but studying, then let's go!"

All of them scrambled to pile themselves into Tristan's hired pick-up truck. As expected, Joey dove for the front passenger seat while Yugi settled for the backseat beside Tea. As Tristan revved the engine up, Tea suddenly tapped his shoulder.

The boy with the Mohawk hairstyle craned his neck to look at her. "Yeah, Ti?"

"Can you .. uhh, drop by KC HQ first?" She asked nervously. In front, Joey groaned. Tea hastily added on, "I just want to tell him that Seth's safe, and also about this study camp. But I promise, I won't take long."

"No problem, Ti," Tristan acceded as he set course for her boyfriend's building. "But ten minutes tops. Don't want to have to hear Joey here complaining that he's hungry even before we reached the lodge."

XO XO XO XO

Seto perused the file that held his agenda for the next two weeks. He had requested Misa to send in the file along with his coffee earlier on. His secretary had brought in the latter later; for once she wondered if her employer was losing it. Wouldn't his coffee be cold by the time he step into his office after his meeting ended at two? However, Seto said nothing of her going against his instruction, so she had assumed he realized the logic and excused herself.

The events that awaited him were annoying him to no end. Not only was he in for a meetings marathon the next day, he was required to attend some conference in the USA all the way until next Sunday. He frowned. That meant he would miss Mischa's wedding, and worse still, he would miss the weekend he intended to spend with Seth.

He picked his phone up and pressed the button that connected him to Misa's desk. "Misa, regarding the conference in the States. Can't I pass it up?"

"I'm so sorry, Mr Kaiba, but you're the guest-of-honour," Misa replied on the other end. "Plus, you already responded to the RSVP a long time back." She felt as if she understood part of his reluctance to attend the conference, and spoke kindly, "I'm sure Mischa would understand your absence."

Seto sighed. "That's alright, Misa. But could you tell her for me on that day?"

"I sure will, Mr Kaiba. If that is all – hold on, Mr Kaiba," Misa excused herself. Seto waited impatiently for her to get back on the line. "Mr Kaiba, your girlfriend's here to see you."

Seto's forehead creased. What was she doing here? "Send her in." He set the phone down and looked up at his office's French doors. They swung open a second later, and Tea walked in with a messenger bag slung over her shoulder.

"Did something happen to Seth?" Without waiting, Seto already assumed the worst.

Tea frowned at his insensitivity. "No. He's fine. In fact, he was hoping that you'd send him in so that he could show you his room."

"Ti, you know I never want to go near that house," Seto argued.

"But Seth lives there too," Tea argued back wearily. "You should have seen him, Seto. He really wished you were there." Sighing, she remembered Tristan's warning earlier and got straight to the point, "Anyway, I'm actually here to tell you that Yugi and the rest asked me to join them for study camp. So … I'll be away for two weeks."

"Where will you guys be heading to?"

"We all pooled money to rent a lodge for the duration," Tea confessed.

Seto frowned at her. "I could have loaned you and your … friends my summer home."

Tea shot him an incredulous look. "What is it in this world that you don't have?"

Her boyfriend smirked at her. "How about a wife?"

She ignored his last comment and carried on, "Anyway, I thought that I should drop by and give you a proper goodbye."

She smiled playfully at him as she sidled up to him to give him a tight hug. Seto promptly wrapped his arms around her and inhaled the light scent of lavender in her hair. He was going to miss this. Just then he remembered that he too had something to tell her and pulled apart from the embrace.

"What's wrong?" Tea queried, worry etched over her features.

"I'll be away from Thursday," He told her. "I have to attend a conference in the States."

"Oh," Tea remarked quietly. After a while she flashed another smile at him as she looped her hands around his neck. "But you won't be long, right?"

Her boyfriend replied gravely as he shook his head, "I'm stuck there all the way till next Sunday." He caught her eye. "I know what I'll be missing, Tea."

"What are you going to tell them?" She asked softly.

"I've told Misa to pass on my apologies to Mischa," He replied sotto voce, one hand playing with a strand of her hair while the other rested on her waist. "As for Seth… I'll call him on my visit days. If I'm free enough, then maybe I'll webcam to him. It's still a form of meeting him, right?"

Tea tapped his nose lightly. "I bet you wish you could just fly him over to the States, right?"

"But I won't because he's just four," Seto caught her hand and pinned it to her side. "Besides, the geek squad kidnapped his future mum for study camp, so she can't exactly fly him over, could she?"

She sighed exasperatedly. "Seto, unlike you, I have to start preparing for –"

"Entrance exams, I know," He cut in, pulling her closer to him. "Now can I give you a goodbye kiss before one of the geeks call you to tell you time's up?"

Tea laughed. "You're so crude," She commented before allowing him to lightly place his lips atop hers. How ironic that a man who could dish out rough words without thinking twice would be so gentle when it came to physical contact. Then again, they tend to hug more than kiss. Not that Tea was complaining, of course. She much preferred it that way.

Just then her handphone rang, and Seto stepped away. "Okay, go," He said gruffly.

"Two weeks will pass, trust me," Tea hurriedly gave him a last peck on the cheek before she scooted out of the office. Seto simply touched his cheek where she had kissed him as he watched her leave.

XO XO XO XO

Caroline tossed her diamond earrings into the box as she stared at her reflection with a huff. Still cross, she bunched her hair up into a ponytail before slipping out of the mini dress. All this effort and for nothing. Seto was still refusing to see her. She rued that fact as she got into a more comfortable sundress.

After Tea had left, Caroline had ended up trying to catch up with Seth as the little tot ran all over the house snapping photos excitedly with his 'cammyra'. Something that should have been simple was made arduous to her, no thanks to her six-inch platform heels and mini dress. It was only around dinnertime did Seth finally stop, and Caroline got the chance to change into something more comfortable.

She picked up a photo frame resting on her dresser and sighed as she looked at the encased photo. She had been trying to plant the notion in her head that he was a jerk for breaking his promise all those years back just like that. She tried harder now that he had someone to love. Against her better judgement, she found herself still craving for his presence once again in her life. Things felt worse when she dreamt about him occasionally.

A knock came on her door. "Miss Lobo, dinner is served."

Deep down, dinner was the last thing she wanted. But as she thought back to her son who must be waiting for her downstairs, she said aloud, "I'll be down in a minute."

After planting a kiss on the glass cover of the photo frame, she set it back on her dresser. _There will be time, Carol,_ she consoled herself. _There will always be time._ She traced the outline of his face gently as a line from her favourite song played in her mind: _And though I don't fit in that much, but I'm yours._


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: for those who celebrate it, Happy Chinese New Year!**

**anw, i just have this to say: thank you thank you thank you for all the reviews and the various alerts!**

**so here's chap 3! keep the reviews coming yea!**

* * *

A knock came on his bedroom door. Resignedly tossing a charcoal grey suit into his suitcase, Seto shuffled over to open the door. Mokuba was grinning like mad before him as he held out a letter. Seto took it and frowned as he scanned the contents.

"What's this?" He inquired.

"Approval letter from Tanaka Academy," Mokuba replied. He sounded hurt at his brother's question. "I asked you last time if I could attend high school there, and you agreed, remember?" He squinted hard at his older brother. "Or you forgot?"

"No, no," his brother muttered back, handing the letter back to his brother. "I just have a lot of things going on in my mind."

Mokuba peered past his brother and saw a suitcase laden with clothes on his brother's four-poster bed. He cocked an eyebrow at his brother. "Going somewhere?"

"Yes," Seto replied absently, languidly gesturing towards his bed. There was a strange sense of weariness in his voice and his actions. "I have to go to a conference in the States, and I'll have to leave soon if I want to reach there with time to spare."

"But you'll be back by Thursday, right? Cos my registration to Tanaka Academy is on that day," Mokuba asked with a hopeful tilt in his voice. His bright eyes searched his brother's, before his expression drooped. "But I'll need a guardian on that day."

Seto sighed as he knelt before his brother, placing his hands firmly on Mokuba's shoulder. "I won't be back until next Sunday, Mokuba. And if I could I'd get out of attending this stupid conference, but I can't."

Mokuba looked away as he spoke contritely, "But I already told you about Tanaka Academy a long time ago, Seto. And I even told you the registration date, because they hold it on the same day every year, so that you can take note of it."

"Mokuba, try to understand me. I can't get out of this conference."

His brother shrugged his brother's hands off his shoulder. "I understand. It's okay. I'll go and register myself."

Seto threw in a desperate attempt to appease his brother. "If you want, I can get Mischa to go with you…"

"She'll be away on her honeymoon by then, remember?" Mokuba shot back sardonically. "Or did you forget about her wedding on Tuesday as well?"

"Mokuba…" Seto started again, but his brother had already stormed off. He sighed as he slumped against his door. He was so worn out from the back-to-back meetings today, and his mind was occupied enough with troubles that he encountered with his clients on several projects. Some of them wanted to cut back on cost due to the current financial crunch by canceling their projects. These were enough to annoy Seto; didn't those companies realize they weren't they only ones to feel the heat from the gloomy economy?

And now Mokuba was mad at him. He thought back to the other personal events taking place within these two weeks and groaned. Mischa would take offence at his absence, no matter his explanation. He had promised her he would witness her enter a new chapter in her life. She was expecting him to hold true to that promise, not as an employer but as her friend. What about Seth? He would come over to find a house without his father in it. Initially Seto had considered asking Mokuba to help look after his nephew for the time he would not be in Japan. But now …

Exhaling angrily – the anger more directed at himself than anything – he got up and zipped his suitcase shut. He dialed a number on the phone resting on his bedside table. After a few rings, the other end answered, and he spoke into it, "Roland. Prepare my plane. I'm departing now."

XO XO XO XO

Mokuba shut the door quietly behind him and locked it. How could Seto forget about his high school registration? All these months Mokuba had been telling his brother about nothing but Tanaka Academy. Seto had been skeptical about Mokuba's decision to want to go to a prestigious high school rather than follow in his footsteps and attend Domino High. But Mokuba had been so adamant about trying his luck in Tanaka Academy, and in the end Seto relented and sent in an application.

With a surname like theirs, application was bound to be passed. After all, the school itself had sent an invite to Seto to complete his high school education there a few years back. But because Seto wanted to go to a school where he could attend as he pleased, or not at all, he opted for Domino High. In short, Seto should have known that Mokuba would be accepted into Tanaka, and he should have expected that he had to go along with Mokuba on registration day.

_At the very least, couldn't Seto be happy that I managed to get into my dream school?_ Mokuba grouchily sat on his bed and hugged his pillow in frustration. _The one big thing in my life so far and he has no reaction to it._

He read the approval letter again and frowned. _Or maybe Seto _wasn't_ happy,_ he thought with a pang. _Maybe he doesn't want me to enter this school and just wants me to attend Domino High like a normal kid._ He tossed the letter onto his bed as he let out a deep sigh. _Then why didn't he just say so and not apply for me to enter Tanaka?_

Mokuba's eyes rested on his door guiltily. Maybe he needed to talk to Seto about this. Hurriedly, he unlocked it and fled down the corridor towards Seto's room at the end of the wing. He knocked on the door a couple of times, calling out his brother's name. When there was no response, he pushed open the door and peeked his head inside.

"Seto?" He called out into the empty and dark bedroom.

He closed the door back disappointedly. _Seto must be mad at me to have left without saying goodbye, _he thought miserably as he plodded back to his room. Suddenly another thought flitted into his mind. _Wait, if Seto's leaving, then what about Seth?_

XO XO XO XO

"Is it Friday today, Mummy?" Seth asked aloud as he scooped a spoonful of Koko Krunch into his mouth.

Caroline looked at him distastefully over her newspaper. "Seth, it's only Thursday. You last saw Daddy on Tuesday. Don't you want to spend more time with me?"

"I do, but I want to show him the photos of my room," Seth answered truthfully. "I want to tell him that my room here is nicer than my room there. But it's more fun there than here cos there are more people."

His mother shook her shiny blonde hair out of her face as she attempted to ignore his remark. She reached for his schoolbag that was placed on the chair beside her. Seth downed the last drop of his apple juice before holding out his arms to let Caroline slip the bag on his shoulders.

"Let's get you to school," Caroline muttered, leading Seth by the hand out of the door into her Porsche Cayman S already parked at the front porch.

"Yayy! School!" Seth yelled as he bounced along into the car. "Mummy, I like school!"

"Really?" Caroline humoured him as she belted him in place in the front passenger seat before getting into the driver's seat. "I bet you made a lot of friends there."

Seth nodded happily. "Yes! And the teachers like to give me a star if I'm a good boy for the day. I want to get the most stars. Do you think I can do that, Mummy?"

"But of course," His mother reassured him as she turned the key in the ignition. Her canary yellow sports car growled to life. She leaned back in her seat for a while as she enjoyed the sound of her engine; to quote one of her favourite TV hosts, 'it sounded like the god of thunder gurgling nails'. Once she was satisfied with the sound, she turned to smile at her son. "Okay honey, let's go!"

The ride to Seth's kindergarten was infuriating for her – daily dealings with traffic jams had not help to raise her patience limit at all. By the time she dropped Seth off with a quick kiss and a goodbye wave, she was already frowning and trying her best not to ram the cars around her to get to her office. Luckily, a valet was there at the office to settle the parking for her.

She proceeded straight to her office. Her secretary got up to greet her, but she snapped her fingers lazily and told her secretary to stay out of her way for the day unless it involved a life and death situation. Caroline dropped her handbag on her desk with a huge sigh as she lowered herself gracefully into her seat.

_Tomorrow would be Friday,_ she realized with a smile as she studied her desk calendar. _And Seto would send someone over to pick Seth up. _She swiveled around in her chair as she thought hard. _I have to make Seto come to the house himself. But how?_ She unzipped her handbag and pulled out an SD card containing the photos that Seth took. _Let's see how you'll not come._

Caroline ran her perfectly manicured fingers across the number pad of her office desk phone. Once the other line answered, she spoke smoothly into it, "Connect me to Mr Seto Kaiba, please." She waited again as the line was transferred to his secretary. Initially, Misa requested for her name politely. The moment Caroline informed her who was on the other line, Misa suddenly sounded uptight.

"Mr Kaiba isn't in his office."

"He isn't in the office or he's pretending to not be in his office?" Caroline continued sweetly. "Tell him it's about his son."

"He really isn't in the office," Misa reiterated sharply. "He's away on a technology conference in the US until next Sunday."

"I believe I'm not aware of that," Caroline mused out loud. "But that's alright."

"Would you like to leave a message for him?"

The blonde CEO of Lobo Industries trilled out a scornful laugh. "Please, even to tell him about his son, I have to leave a message? I don't think so. Thank you, anyway." She disconnected the call before connecting another one to her secretary. "Lina, send me a list of all major technology conferences that is currently occurring in the US asap."

While waiting for the list to come in, she took her time to check her emails. Lobo Industries was big enough with reserves deep enough to supplement all operations and projects despite the worsening world economy. Despite that, she carefully studied requests by Lobo Industries' smaller partners to inject less funds into their joint projects. Those requests which harboured more on the line of ridicule instead of practicality were dismissed. Instead, she countered by telling them to pump in more funds or risk having the projects cancelled. The bottomline was this: the loss would be theirs, not Lobo Industries. Her empire would be completely unaffected.

When the knock came on her office door, Caroline smiled as she granted entry. Lina passed her the requested list and quickly excused herself. Her employer perused the list with much interest. Finally, her finger landed on a particular conference that would take place in New York all the way until next Sunday. Guest-of-honour? Mr Seto Kaiba, CEO of Japan's third biggest technology company.

Caroline wasted no time in calling her secretary again, "Lina, book two tickets for me and Seth on the next flight to New York." Once her secretary hung up, Caroline dialed another number she had not dialed for quite some time. "James. Hello. I need your help to track somebody down. Make it quick and 5 grand is all yours."

XO XO XO XO

Tea threw her pen onto her open Geography book. Why was it again they had to remember and understand how the Alps were formed? She stretched as she cast a glance at her friends. Yugi, and surprisingly Tristan, were intently reading their notes. Joey was, well… sprawled across the couch with the textbook covering his face. Picking up her pen, she hurled it at him. Joey immediately sat up, blindly batting things out of his hair.

"Who was the excited one among us at first, anyway?" Tea raised the question, shooting Joey a knowing look.

"I believe it was a moron named Joey," Tristan offered a reply, not looking up from his math exercises.

"I was studying," Joey insisted, rubbing his head. "But Economics is sleepy-fying. Do you blame me?"

Tea raised an eyebrow. "Actually, yes," she gestured towards Yugi. Their smallest friend was hunched over his textbook, muttering random information to himself. "Look at Yugi. He's not falling asleep reading the same thing that you did."

At that point in time, Yugi looked up. "Huh? Did you guys say something?"

Tristan waved him off. "Nothing important. Just Joey being Joey."

"Oh, okay," Yugi remarked simply, shrugging as he went back to his reading. He glanced up at the clock on the wall. "Oh hey, it's past dinnertime?" As if on cue, his stomach rumbled.

Joey leapt off the couch, pumping his fist up in the air. "Let's go! Let's go! What do you guys want? I want something really huge so that I can be full until breakfast tomorrow!"

Tristan rolled his eyes. "Last time you ate one whole spring chicken and then complained about how hungry you still were after two hours."

"All the more, I want four of that now!" He dragged his friends out from their seats, shoving them towards the door. "Let's go! Go! Go! Go!"

His friends allowed themselves to be torn away from their books and stuffed at a booth in the nearest café. Without thinking much, all of them ordered cheeseburgers and Coke. Joey was the exceptional one who ordered five burgers just for himself. Halfway through hers, Tea suddenly remembered something and excused herself to make a call.

She huddled into a cubicle in the ladies and dialed a number. A despondent voice answered on the other end. Tea's forehead furrowed in confusion as she asked, "Mokuba, what's wrong? You didn't have an argument with Seto, did you?"

"No. Yes. I don't know," Mokuba answered. "I think Seto's mad at me about Tanaka. I manage to get in, but -"

"What? He's mad at you?" Tea's voice rose slightly. One hand perched itself on her hips. "Put him on the phone."

"He's not here. He's already left for New York yesterday."

"What?!" Tea almost dropped her phone. She had painstakingly messaged him once she reached the lodge, and when he did not reply, she was fine with it. But now Seto left the country without even telling her he had left. He did not even message her to tell her if he had arrived safely. "But how about your registration? You need a guardian, right?"

"It's okay, Ti. Nana'll follow me on that day. Don't worry. And when Seth comes over, he'll have me and Nana to look after him."

Tea frowned. "What do you mean, when he comes over? Isn't he there yet?"

"Nopes. Maybe Caroline's running late."

"Yeah, maybe. Alright, bye Mokuba. Take care yeah." Tea ended the conversation. Her mind was in a whirlwind. Seto left her without a last goodbye. She glanced at her watch and saw it was nearly 10pm. And Seth still wasn't at Kaiba mansion? Shouldn't he already be there by six?

She risked a long-distance call and dialed Seto's number. After three failed attempts, she gave up with a frustrated sigh. Instead, she sent an SMS:

Seto, call me the moment you can, alright? Mokuba just told me something about Seth, and I'm worried. [And not forgetting, I miss you.]

XO XO XO XO

The limousine travelled down the street that would lead to the Kaibas' New York mansion located right at the end. On short trips, Seto would simply opt to stay in a hotel. But with a long trip like this one, he had no choice but to take up residence at his mansion. He sighed as he leaned back into the leather seat. Day one of the conference was over. Another week plus to go. He could barely wait until this redundant event was settled.

He glanced out of the window. It was a random act, but it was not out of randomness that he noticed that lights were on in a particular mansion along the street. "Stop the car," he told his driver. As he got out, he requested his driver to kill off the engine because he had no idea how long he would take. Seto walked up to the front door stoically and pressed the doorbell.

The moment the door opened, he looked straight at the person who answered it and asked, "What are you doing here?" His blue eyes caught another figure in the background who was nearing the door, and he asked in a harsher tone this time round, "What is _he_ doing here?"

She opened the door wider and stepped aside, as if to allow him entrance to the household. Seto strode in without looking at her. Rather, he had his eyes on the little boy who had now wrapped his arms around his waist.

"He wanted to see you badly," she remarked with a shrug. "If it were up to me, I wouldn't have bothered to come."

As Seto picked his son up, he glared at her. "How did you find me here? I remembered that I didn't even tell you or Seth that I'll be here."

Caroline gave him a pointed look. "Your presence in New York isn't exactly a secret."

Seto snorted. "You must have been sniveling around, Lobo."

"I told you, Seth wanted to see you badly," She replied crossly as she headed into the kitchen. She came back out with a glass of iced water. "And don't call me by my surname in front of Seth."

"You're not worthy of calling me by my given name," Seto retorted simply as he held up a hand to refuse the served drink. "So addressing each other by our surnames is appropriate."

"I'm not crazy enough to spike your drink," she hissed as she set the glass angrily down on the coffee table.

"I never said that, did I? I just don't want to drink what you served me."

Just then, Seth interjected timidly, "Daddy? Mummy? Are you two fighting?"

His parents shot each other a murderous look, but reassured him that they were just having an over-the-top discussion, not an altercation. Still not convinced by their words, Seth insisted stubbornly, "Then how come I've never seen you two hug or kiss like other parents?"

"What?" Seto shot him an incredulous look, immediately setting him down.

"I thought parents are supposed to hug and kiss each other. How come you two always argue everytime you meet?"

Both Seto and Caroline fell silent. Discreetly, Caroline took a hopeful peek at her ex-fiancé. Seto barely glanced at her. He took Seth by the hand and started to lead the boy out. When Caroline tried to intervene, he reminded her evenly, "It's Friday."

"I brought him into this country, so I'm his guardian for the duration he's here," Caroline objected.

"Fine," Seto replied, dragging Seth towards the door. "I'll send him back on Monday."

Seth pried himself away from his father's grip and cried, "I don't want to go anywhere!" He shook his head as he bawled, "I don't want to go anywhere!"

Seto bent down and placed a hand on his son's shoulder. "Shh. Seth. Seth. Okay, okay. If you want to stay here, it's okay. I won't make you come with me."

Seth tugged at his father's arm as he continued to sob. "I want to stay with you!"

Caroline exhaled loudly. "Seth, if you want to go with Daddy, it's okay."

"But Mummy, I want to stay with you too!" At his parents' confused expression, he repeated himself again, "I want Mummy and Daddy to stay with me! I want Mummy and Daddy together!" With that, he cried harder as he tugged at Seto's coat and Caroline's dress. "Please Mummy. I want Daddy to stay with us."

Caroline knelt down to hug him as she spoke softly, "He can't."

"But why?" Seth turned to Seto, his entire face wet with tears. "Daddy, why can't you stay? Why? Don't you like me?"

A horrified look crossed Seto's face. "Seth, don't say that."

"Then why can't you stay?" Seth insisted again through his sobs. "Why?"

Seto glanced away guiltily. He wanted to be with Seth; accordingly, he was supposed to be with Seth. On the other hand, he had no wish to be anywhere near Caroline. He didn't exactly hate her; he just stopped trusting her.

_But I'll be doing this for Seth's sake,_ a voice in his head argued. _Who cares about her._

Taking a deep breath, Seto pulled his son into a hug as he said quietly, "It's alright, Seth. I'll stay."


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: hello everyone! i'm so glad you like this fic, and Seth! haha. i think he's cute too! as for Caroline, i'm seriously considering bringing out that dartboard again. haha!**

**okay okay, here's the next chapter! hope you guys like it!**

* * *

Seto brushed back his son's bangs and kissed his forehead lightly. Seth stirred but hugged his Rooroo tighter. Seto got up and headed for the door. He had intended to stay only until past dinnertime. Apparently he had overstayed – and overslept beside Seth - all the way until 9am. At least Caroline had the decency to lock herself up in her room all this time.

"What if he wakes up and finds you gone?" Caroline questioned out of the blue before he exited her mansion.

He snorted. "Maybe for once you can use your brains. But in case you don't know how to, I'll tell you the answer. I'm here for a conference trip, not a vacation."

Caroline could not come up with a rejoinder as he slammed the door behind him, leaving her to stare shell-shocked at him. Within seconds, the sound of his black Bentley limousine pulling out of her driveway could be heard.

_I'm not a dumb blonde,_ she thought angrily as she stormed up the stairs to her room. _Haven't I proven it to him? Why is he so insistent on making it known to my face that he hates me? I know it already, alright._

XO XO XO XO

When Seto reached home, he realized that all this while he had left his handphone in his room. No wonder yesterday seemed so peaceful suddenly, he thought wryly as he picked his Arte up. He frowned as he read the screen: 5 missed calls and an SMS. He checked them to discover that while two of those calls were from Mokuba, the rest were from Tea. He sighed when he read her SMS. Probably Mokuba had gone worried about Seth and rung her up.

He peered at his digital clock on his bed-stand. It should only be around 11pm back in Domino City. Shrugging out of his coat, he speed-dialed Tea's number. Hopefully she would still be awake.

When her groggy voice sounded on the other end, Seto found himself smirking as he said smoothly, "Hello pretty."

"Seto?" Tea replied in disbelief. She suddenly sounded awake. "Seto! Oh my God, I tried to reach you, but I couldn't get through. How are you? I missed you so much."

Seto balanced the phone between his ear and his shoulder as he undid his tie. "I left my phone at my mansion. I only reached home a while back."

"A while back? Shouldn't it be morning there already?" Tea let out a chuckle. "Oh, please don't tell me you finally listened to my advice to loosen up and hit a club."

"Actually, it's already 9am here," he confessed, heading towards the shower. Conference day two would only start at noon; he had a few hours to kill. "And no, I didn't hit a club, or whatever is it the term that you people use. I … I was at Caroline's house."

The line fell silent. Seto cleared his throat before explaining, "She came over. With Seth."

"I see."

"Tea, I didn't call her up to come down here."

"She just sort of popped by there after tracking you down," Tea offered to complete his explanation dryly. "I think you'd better call Mokuba. He's worried sick about you and Seth."

"Yeah," Seto agreed with a pang of guilt as he recalled his last encounter with his younger brother. "Mokuba managed to get into Tanaka."

"I know. Listen, I'm very sleepy, so I think I'd better get back to sleep."

"Tea…" Seto's voice was so quiet, it almost sounded like a plea.

"I'm really tired, Seto. Bye," Without her usual 'I love you' , Tea clicked off.

Seto stared at his phone in disbelief. Slowly, he placed it beside the sink. It was bad enough Mokuba was mad at him; now Tea too? He sighed. Maybe a shower would do his head good and get it to start overworking again.

XO XO XO XO

Her friends simply stared at her wordlessly as she chucked her handphone into her bag. Tea said nothing as she furiously flipped back to the last page she was at and continued her algebra sums fervently.

Joey leaned over to Tristan and hissed, "Ya think Kaiba made her mad?"

Tristan cast a fleeting look at their female friend. "I've never seen her trying to stab her algebra with a pen, so I'm thinking yes."

Yugi skipped the conspiratorial discussion altogether and whispered to Tea who was seated beside him, "Is everything okay?"

"Why shouldn't it be?" Tea muttered back. "Of course he's fine there. He has his own mansion, his own cars, his own security group there. He even has his own family there. So why shouldn't everything be okay?" She slammed her book shut. " 'I was at Caroline's house. She came over. With Seth.' Ha!"

Joey yelped, "What? The psycho-woman's there? With their kid?"

Tea shot him a look. "Didn't I just say that?"

Tristan held up his hands, palms up. "Whoa, Ti. Cool down. You're starting to sound as cranky as Kaiba."

"I'm not like him. I am _nothing_ like him!" There was no mistaking the anger in her voice as she got up and grabbed her books along with her. "I don't go around making _false_ promises and end up having a _kid_ with my crazy ex-fiancee _without_ realizing it until _three_ years later!"

Her friends winced as they watched her storm up to her room. Soon after, they heard the loud slam of a door.

"I get the feeling that I'm not going to like this," Joey commented, starting to pack up his books as well.

Tristan nodded. "Man, I thought we're gonna have fun during this study camp. But that creep had to go mess things up. Wonder what he did this time round."

"Tea said something about Caroline being there or something," Joey recalled back perfectly.

Tristan sighed. "Don't tell me …"

Yugi shot the both of them a ridiculous look. "Kaiba's not that stupid."

"Oh yeah? Then how come Tea's so mad?" Joey challenged his words. "That jerk. He must have stayed over at her house."

"Staying over doesn't mean anything," Yugi was adamant to defend his foe/friend. "I think there's some misunderstanding. I know Kaiba'd never do anything stupid to hurt Tea."

"Well, he already has," Joey stated the undeniable fact.

XO XO XO XO

Tea screamed into her pillow at the same time she started tearing. _What is wrong with you, Seto?_ She chastised her boyfriend in her mind. _Why can't you say no to her? And even if you want to be with Seth, see him in the day! But why must you spend the night at that witch's house?_

She suddenly realized that she had forgotten to talk to him about Mokuba, and she grew angry at his insensitivity again. Right now, she scolded herself for falling in love with such a moron. Or maybe the bigger idiot here was her own self.

Tea forced herself to stop her tears and took deep breaths. _It's not Seto's fault he doesn't know about Seth until last year,_ she tried hard to psych herself up. _And besides, he was with Seth. Seth, and not Caroline. I have to trust Seto. I have to trust him._

She lay back gently on her bed and bit her lip. _I trust Seto. I trust him. He'd never do anything to purposely hurt me. Because if he did… _She shook her head. _He'd better not. If he did, I'll just let the guys kill him._

XO XO XO XO

Seto combed through his hair quickly and checked his reflection again_. Looking good_, he told himself. He had ditched his coats for a simple black long-sleeved shirt paired with dark grey trousers. _How appropriate with my mood now._

He picked up his handphone, then pocketed it almost reluctantly. His argument with Tea earlier was still fresh on his mind. She must be indefinitely mad at him. There was no way a woman could not be furious if her boyfriend suddenly answered her call and told her he stayed over at his ex-fiancee's house.

_But trust me, Ti, _he thought exasperatedly as he stormed out of his mansion towards his limousine that would take him to the conference site. _I didn't even touch her. Why won't you hear me out back then?_

The long ride towards the conference only served to make Seto recall all the past events. His thoughts eventually landed on Mokuba. He sighed. Was his brother still disappointed in him? Seto had noticed that although Mokuba seemed to love Seth as much as he did, Mokuba still appeared to be a tad jealous of the attention his nephew was getting.

With overbearing guilt, Seto fished for his handphone to dial his home number, then faltered. It would be too late to ring up his house. Almost everyone in the house including Mokuba would be asleep. But he needed to get rid of this guilty feeling fast. Swiftly, Seto dialed a different number: Mokuba's handphone. Of course Mokuba probably would not hear it, but that was more than enough.

As expected, the voicemail answered. Seto waited out the beep before he spoke, "Mokuba, it's me. Listen, I'm really sorry I can't be there with you on registration day. And I'm sorry if you think I'm unhappy with the results. Trust me, I am. I'm happy you got what you wanted, and that's all I could ever ask for. I'll treat you to dinner when I come back, alright? And about Seth, don't worry. He's with me in New York. His mother sort of flew him down here. I just want to tell you not to worry." He paused for a while before he ended off softly, "Take care kiddo."

His driver pulled up outside the expo building and opened the door for Seto to get out. Seto slid out of the vehicle and proceeded up the steps towards day two of the conference. He only wished it would end early enough; that way, he could drop by to meet Seth.

He frowned. But would that be a wise decision? He nodded an amiable enough greeting to the business executives who shared the same table as he did. I'll just take Seth out for dinner and then send him back. Caroline's more than capable of finding her own dinner. Reluctantly, he took out his handphone and sent an SMS to Caroline to tell him about his plan. In case she mistook his intentions, he purposely underlined and capitalized his son's name. That should make it clear to her that she was not invited.

XO XO XO XO

The first thing Tea did when she woke up was to check her handphone. Much to her chagrin, there was absolutely no SMSes or missed calls from that particular someone. Annoyed by the entire deal, she switched it off. That way, she could completely forget about the fact that she was waiting for something from him.

Then she snorted. _Who am I kidding? Even if he knew he hurt me, but if he doesn't feel guilty, there's no way he would issue an apology._ Throughout her shower and preparations in getting dressed, she ranted quietly on that piece of fact.

_Maybe Joey was right,_ she brushed through her hair furiously. _Maybe Seto is nothing but an egoistical, big-headed, self-centred jerk._

Her lousy mood did not pick up despite her friends' crazy breakfast antics. For some reason, Joey and Tristan dared each other to drink a plateful of maple syrup. Yugi immediately lost his appetite and left his cereal untouched after witnessing the scene. Tea was too angry at Seto as she stabbed at her pancakes to even feel grossed out.

As if unsatisfied with her reaction, Joey asked aloud, "Yo, Ti. You wanna join us?"

Yugi covered his eyes. "Oh God, no."

Tea replied scathingly, still stabbing her pancakes, "I don't like maple syrup."

Joey cocked an eyebrow. "That's a lie. You love it cos it's sweet, remember?"

"I don't like it, Joey," Tea reiterated, dropping her pancakes onto Joey's maple syrup-laden plate. The syrup splattered onto his shirt, leaving light brown stains. "And I don't like pancakes. So you can have all of it."

Joey pushed himself away from the table as he stared at her incredulously, "What's your problem, Tea? Look, if you're mad at Kaiba, then stay mad. At him. Not at me, and definitely not at maple syrup."

Tea quickly looked away, drawing in a deep breath. Joey was right; she was letting all this stupid emotion get to her. "Sorry Joey," Tea mumbled, reaching out to take her pancakes back. They were all soggy. "And can I have my pancakes back? I'm kinda hungry."

Joey grinned as he swung an arm around her shoulders. "It's okay, Ti. I understand. Hey, you can take all this maple syrup if you want. I know there's another bottle somewhere. I can drink it from there."

"Drink maple syrup from the bottle?" Tea echoed, shoving him away as she threw him a dirty look. "Joey, that's more than disgusting. I don't even know what to call it. Disgustingly disgustingly disgusting."

"That's the same word being repeated thrice, but I'll take it," Joey replied cheerfully, ducking into the kitchen to find another bottle of syrup. He held up a packet of licorice sticks. "Hey, licorice dunked in syrup tastes good, y'know. Anybody wants this special creation from SuperChef Joey?"

All his friends glared at him and shouted in unison, "NO!"

XO XO XO XO

Caroline frantically combed back Seth's hair, once in a while using her fingers to adjust his bangs. The little boy simply stood impatiently there as his mother readied him. Once in a while he reached out to brush his mother's dangling sapphire-studded earrings off her bare shoulders.

"Seth, it's okay," Caroline reassured him for the umpteenth time. "My earrings won't get stuck to my skin or my hair. See? My hair's all tied up."

"I know," Seth replied, smiling happily at her. "But I want you to look pretty."

Caroline stopped adjusting his shirt and cupped his face smilingly. "Oh Seth…"

Her son leaned forward to hug her waist. "I want all of us to look pretty! You, me and Daddy. Then when we take a photo we'll have a pretty photo!"

Caroline let out a tinkling laugh as she hugged him back. "Seth, girls and women are pretty. But boys and men like you and Daddy are not pretty. They are handsome. I thought I already taught you this."

"But photos are pretty right?"

His mother pursed her lips to hold back her laugh. "For now, I'll let you stick to that." As she straightened herself up, the doorbell rang. She took Seth's hand and almost skipped to the front door. She whispered to her son, "I think it's Daddy."

Seth pulled back the handle of the door and just as expected, Seto Kaiba was standing at the doorway. Without thinking much, Seth ran towards him with hands held up high. Seto scooped him up and balanced him in his arms.

"You dressed up pretty well for dinner," Seto remarked, studying his son's attire.

"Do you like my hair?" Seth grinned at him.

"Yes, it suits you," Seto said calmly. He turned to face Caroline and scowled. "I thought I made it clear it's just me and Seth."

Seth voiced out in defense of his mother, "I want Mummy to come along."

"Seth…"

"If Mummy doesn't come, I don't want to go," Seth pouted. For that moment, Seto wished his son had not inherited his stubbornness. Seth looked at his father pleadingly. "Please Daddy. Let Mummy follow us. I want everyone to know that I have a very pretty Mummy and a very handsome Daddy. Please?"

Seto kept silent. He had thought of explaining to Seth about their situation, but he just did not have the heart to do that for now. Seth was too young to accept that his family was already broken even before he was born. Furthermore, both he and Caroline came from unhappy families. Could he bring himself to ruin Seth's dreams of having a perfect family?

He gruffly said in the end, "Fine. She can come along."

Seth gave out a cheer, and despite themselves, both his parents looked on adoringly at him. Seth struggled in his father's grip, as if to let him down, and Seto relented. As soon as his feet touched the ground, Seth took his parents by the hand and dragged them into the living room.

"Seth, dinner's not in the house," Seto reminded his son. In truth, he was just as confused as his ex-fiancee. What was their son up to?

He just watched as Seth propped a camera onto a high stool and fiddled with it. When he was done, he ran back to his parents and pulled them closer to him.

"Mind telling me what you're up to?" Seto queried.

"We're gonna take a photo!" Seth announced happily. He looked quickly at his parents. "I want Mummy to kiss me on one cheek and Daddy to kiss me on the other. Please?" He glanced at the blinking light on his camera. "Hurry! The cammyra will click soon!"

Their son's panic got to them, and in a bid to hurriedly appease him, Seto and Caroline obliged.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: hey all! thanks for all the reviews and alerts! i'm so glad you guys loved the way the story went (: and yes, i think caroline's butting in too much into seto's life. rawrs!**

**anw, here's the next installment in this fic, chapter 5! hope you guys will like it!**

* * *

Yugi held out a sandwich in front of her. Tea glanced up to see her small friend smiling at her, still offering the sandwich to her. Tea gratefully took it and took a bite. Smoked turkey with cheese. She smiled back at him as she whispered to him, "Thanks for getting my fave, Yugi."

He sank into the seat beside her and grinned. "I knew you'd like it, Tea." He placed a hand on her shoulder and asked quietly, "Are things between you and Kaiba alright? You seem to be pretty mad at him."

Tea stopped munching her sandwich. Noticing her action, Yugi hastily added, "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. After all, it is a personal issue."

His childhood friend sighed as she leaned back into the couch. "No, I really need to talk this out." She balanced her sandwich on the wrapper on her lap as she looked down. "I trust Seto, Yugi. But I don't trust Caroline. You know how she is."

"Yeah," Yugi agreed. "But why are you mad at Kaiba?" He raised an eyebrow as he smiled knowingly. "You're jealous, aren't you?"

Tea looked at him incredulously as she scoffed, "Me? Jealous? Of course not!" When Yugi continued to look at her innocently, she finally admitted, "I guess I was just a teeny weeny bit. But come on, he said it so casually. That's more than enough to piss me off. It's like, he doesn't care about how I'd feel."

Yugi laughed at her words. "Tea, one thing that I know about Kaiba is that he tends to realize how insensitive he was to others quite late. But trust me, he doesn't mean it most of the time." He peered at her expectantly. "So aren't you going to call him? I think he misses you."

Tea blushed, but she took out her handphone anyway. Throwing her a supportive smile, Yugi cleverly excused himself to join the rest of the gang and at the same time leaving Tea with her privacy. She scrolled down her contacts list and finally found the number she was looking for. Shakingly, she pressed the call button and put the phone to her ear.

XO XO XO XO

Caroline shook her head as she wiped Seth's mouth with a napkin. She scolded him gently, "Seth, how many times do I have to tell you to eat properly?"

"But it's not my fault," Seth whined. "The sauce keeps dripping all over."

"But you can always choose the not-so saucy portion," Caroline continued, giving up on cleaning her son up. He had managed to get black pepper sauce even onto his brand new dark blue shirt.

"But I don't know how to cut this meat. It's so big!"

Seto intervened with his utensils and started cutting up the piece of steak for his son into little bits. Once he was done, he sat back and returned to his meal. "There."

Seth beamed as he bounced up from his seat to give Seto a kiss on the cheek. "Thank you Daddy!"

Seto let slip a small smile. "You should have just told me earlier you wanted your meat to be smaller. Then you wouldn't be in this mess."

Caroline shot him a look from where she was seated beside Seth. "Seto, he's able to cut up pieces of steak on his own since forever. He does it all the time at home."

"But this isn't home," Seto replied coolly as he cut his own steak. "So get over yourself."

"Don't argue with me in front of Seth," Caroline warned, sipping her chalice of red wine.

"Who's arguing?" Seto remarked. He turned to face his son and frowned. "Seth, you don't have to cut it up anymore." He reached out to remove Seth's knife from his clutch and placed it beside his plate. "Just use your fork. It's more than enough." Away from his son's gaze, he muttered, "I can't believe you let him play around with knives even before he's four."

"Excuse me?" Caroline hissed at him. "Listen darling, you didn't raise Seth like I did. So you have no rights to tell me off like that."

They felt a hand clutch each of their hands. Both of them looked down to see Seth's wide-eyed expression. Seto took a deep breath to calm himself down. Caroline was looking away as she gritted her teeth to release her anger. Once his parents stopped looking as if they wanted to murder each other, Seth smiled. His parents smiled weakly back at him.

Apparently, Seth's attention had shifted to something not too far from their table. His parents turned to see what their son was looking at: a dance floor filled with couples dancing. Seto met his son's eyes and stubbornly shook his head.

"Please, Daddy?" Seth begged. "Please?"

"No," Seto replied stoically. He knew what his son was driving at.

"Please, Daddy?" Seth begged again. "Take Mummy dancing."

"I don't dance," Seto remarked bluntly.

"Mama Tea said you danced with her once," Seth replied. "Daddy, please. Take Mummy dancing."

Caroline looked at her son, then Seto then back at her son. "Seth, don't make Daddy do things he doesn't want to do."

"But why?" Seth continued. "Why Mummy? Why?"

Seto tossed his napkin onto the table as he got up. "That's enough. Alright." He looked at his unfinished meal as he said reluctantly, "I'll dance with Mummy."

"Yay!" Seth started to cheer, but Seto quickly silenced him with a finger to his lips.

"Stay put, Seth," Seto reminded his son, placing his handphone and wallet underneath Caroline's evening bag. "And make sure these things never leave your sight. Don't talk to anybody, or let anyone come near. Even the waiters. Is that clear?"

His son nodded. Seto gruffly headed for the dance floor. Caroline trailed after him. Once they found a spot on the dance floor, Seto held out his hand. As Caroline took it, he reminded her harshly, "Listen to me, Carol. I'm doing this for my son."

Caroline regarded him stoically back. "Don't worry, Seto. I'm clear about that." She cocked her head to one side. "But can we at least put on a convincing act to at least make Seth happy?"

Seto shrugged. "I'm well aware of that, and that's why I'm going to be nice to you for this one song. Play your part."

XO XO XO XO

Seth carried on eating his steak as he kept his eyes on his parents' belongings. Just then, his father's phone rang. He was about to pick it up, but hesitated. Once he recalled perfectly that Seto said nothing about not answering calls, he answered it and spoke into it, "Hello?"

"Hello? Seth?"

He recognized the voice on the other end and broke into a smile. "Mama Tea!"

Tea laughed on the other end. "Yes it's me! How are you?"

"I'm fine! And I'm really happy now cos Daddy's with me!"

"Really? That's great!" Tea sounded equally pleased. "Can you pass the phone to your Daddy? I need to talk to him about something."

Seth's face creased into a confused frown. "But Daddy's dancing with Mummy. And he told me to stay put."

"Oh. I see. Never mind then. Can you just tell your Daddy I called?"

"Alright!" His face smoothed back out into a wide smile. "Bye Mama Tea!"

"Bye Seth."

XO XO XO XO

_Sometimes a man has to choose to  
Do something he doesn't want to do  
Do I live my life with you as my wife?  
Or do I go on and pursue my lifetime dream  
I gotta do this for me  
'cause if I don't I'll probably regret it  
But if I do I'll probably regret it_

_How do I cope (how do you cope) when  
The one you love is  
With somebody else  
And there's nothing you can do about it  
How do you deal with  
The fact that you had a chance  
But you chose to turn away for your career  
I gotta take it  
Though it's heartbreakin  
Its something that I had to do  
But nobody said that it would hurt so bad  
So how do I live  
How do I deal without you?_

_It's killing me to know that your heart's with me  
But your with him 'cause I choose to be  
In this industry  
Money, shows, those come along with luxuries  
And pain is all you see when you think about it  
This is the life that I was given  
So I have to live it to the fullest  
How do I deal in the meantime without you?_

Even before the song ended, Caroline and Seto broke off their dance and went back to their table. Deep down, Seto cursed himself. Every song he tried to listen to or dance to ended up making him feel as if he could relate it to his life. What's more, he had to be dancing with Caroline when the song came up.

The moment Seto sat back on his chair, Seth held out his Arte and waved it in front of his face. At his father's questioning frown, Seth said, "Mama Tea called."

Caroline almost dropped her fork upon hearing the name. Seto ignored her and retrieved the handphone from his son. "Did she say anything?" he asked Seth. His son shook his head. Seto got up and pushed himself away from the table as he muttered to his son, "It's okay. Carry on with dinner. I'll be back."

Seto weaved his way through the tables until he reached the gents. It was no surprise it was relatively empty; men were less vain than women, and the emptiness of the gents proved it. He leaned against a wall and dialed back his girlfriend's number.

The moment he heard Tea's voice on the other end, Seto immediately launched into an apology cum explanation, "I left my cell at the table just now. Seth made me dance with Carol."

"It's okay," Tea's reply was spookily calm. "I just called you because … are you sure you can't attend Mischa's wedding?"

Seto smirked. "You miss me, don't you?"

"Cos I'll feel really bad towards Mis if you can't make it," Tea blabbered on. "And you know how much she's expecting you to be able to make it."

His smirk grew wider as he teased again, "Just admit it that you miss me."

"Seto, I'm serious," His smirk faded as his girlfriend outwardly ignored him. "Come back for her wedding."

He scowled. "Tea, I'm stuck for a conference in New York. I can't fly to Domino and back again."

"Well, if you can make time to dance with Caroline, surely you can make time to attend our friend's wedding," Tea replied scathingly.

Her boyfriend sighed as he realized what all of this was about. "Tea, I did that just to humour Seth."

"Right. So if he asks you to kiss Caroline, you would."

A cloud crossed Seto's features as her words stung him. "Tea, I don't want to argue with you. I told you, I did that just to make Seth happy."

"Like I said," Tea remarked stubbornly. "Seto, I love Seth as much as you do. But I don't like the way you're letting yourself get so close to Caroline." Her voice softened. "You can say I'm crazy or that I'm jealous, but I'm worried for you, Seto. I still remembered what she tried to do."

At that moment, Seto wished he could give her a reassuring hug. Instead, he had to make do with words. He said softly, "Tea, trust me, please."

"I trust you, Seto. But I don't trust her," came Tea's frustrated reply. She sighed deeply before speaking in a resigned tone, "Be careful, alright Seto?"

"I will."

"And please, come back for Mischa's wedding," Tea pleaded. "Even if it's just for an hour, at least just show up."

Seto chuckled. "Are you sure it's because Mischa really wants me there or you're dying to have me back by your side? In any case, I'll try. Maybe those people at the conference will barely notice I'm gone."

Tea laughed. Seto relaxed upon hearing her laugh; he missed hearing that. She ended the conversation happily, "I'll be waiting. Bye Seto! I love you! Muacks!"

Seto smiled faintly. "Same here."

XO XO XO XO

Seth looked up at his mother expectantly as he bounced off yet another set of questions, "Mummy, was the dance nice? Did Daddy tell you that you look pretty?"

Caroline seemed pensive for a while as she chewed her penne slowly. "Hmm.. he didn't say anything about how I looked like but," She smiled knowingly at him. "The dance was nice. Although Daddy might think otherwise."

That seemed to confuse her son. "But why won't Daddy like it?" He eyed his mother suspiciously. "Is it cos you can't dance as good as Mama Tea?"

Caroline froze. She quickly set her fork down and looked deep into Seth's eyes as she said slowly, "Seth, I want you to remember this: don't say her name in front of me, alright honey?"

"But why? Mama Tea's nice. Or is it cos you don't like her?"

His mother sighed. "Seth, just don't say her name in front of me."

"Is it cos of her Daddy doesn't like you?"

Caroline fell silent as she ruminated her son's words. Should she say yes, and turn him against Seto's girlfriend? Or should she sit down and explain the entire deal to Seth?

* * *

**song used: How To Deal by Frankie J**

**somehow, i could relate the lines to caroline's and seto's life, one way or another.**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: hey guys! school will be starting soon (there's the entire new school to adjust to), so i don't think i'll be able to update as frequently as i used to ):**

**and in any case, here's chapter 6 (: it might seem a bit abrupt at some parts, but i hope you guys don't mind it! and maybe we should give the dartboard a rest. hehe. and maybe draw up a punching bag for someone else.. oh wells. **

**and the word to summarise this chapter: marriage. hope you all enjoy this yea!**

* * *

"Daddy, don't go!" Seth clutched at Seto's waist. "Don't go!"

Seto carefully pried his son's hands from his waist and knelt until he was at eye-level as his son. He smiled as he brushed away his son's tears with his thumb. "I'll be back soon," he said softly. "I'm just going back for zia Mischa's wedding. Do you want to come along?"

"Can Mummy come along?" Seth asked hopefully.

Annoyance flashed in his father's blue eyes. Seto pushed himself back up and straightened himself. He said coldly, "She's not invited."

Seth let his arms drop as he stepped away from his father. He sounded angry as he spoke, "Mama Tea's not letting Mummy come, right?"

"What?"

Seth's voice rose a notch. "Mama Tea hates Mummy! That's why she's not letting Mummy come!"

Seto glared at him as he warned, "Seth, watch your words. The one inviting me and Mama Tea and you to the wedding is zia Mischa. Mama Tea loves you, Seth. You know that." Suddenly, something clicked, and he swiveled his head towards Caroline, who was standing and witnessing the scene from the doorway of her mansion. He snarled, "It's you, isn't it? You fed his head with all this lies!"

Caroline straightened her arm out in front of her and wrapped it around Seth's shoulders when their son ran straight at her in tears. She regarded Seto coolly, "He's smart enough to make conclusions on his own."

Seto snorted. "I know he's smart, Carol. But he's four! He won't view people as bad unless someone else drills it in his head! What did you tell him?"

"Nothing."

"What did you tell him?!" Seto shouted, taking a step towards them. Seth hid his face in his mother's skirt and huddled behind her in fear.

"I said, nothing!" Caroline threw out a protective arm in front of her son as she stared back at Seto. "You have to leave, don't you? Then get out of my property!" When Seto still moved forward towards Seth, she yelled again, "And Seth stays with me!"

Her ex-fiancee stopped in his tracks. He fumed at her, but as he glanced at his crying son, he said in a tight voice, "We'll settle this when I get back." Seth peeked his head out for a second, but quickly hid himself again. Seto sighed in frustration but managed a loud enough goodbye to his son. With that, he turned on his heels and got into his limousine.

"Speed off to the airport," Seto ordered. From his clipped tone, his driver could tell he was silently furious. "I don't care if you hit all the red lights or whatever. Get me to the airport within twenty minutes. Is that clear?"

"Y-Yes, Mr Kaiba," his driver quickly made known he understood the instruction and stepped on the accelerator. As requested, they did make it to the airport under twenty minutes, and the moment the limousine pulled up near the runway, Seto leapt out of it.

"Mr Kaiba, your jet's ready," one of his technical officers in charge of his flying machine reported to him as Seto strode over to board it.

"I can tell," Seto remarked, getting into the cockpit. This Blue Eyes White Dragon jet was a single seater, unlike the one he had back in Domino City. He hastily put on his helmet and pulled the visor down. "All systems checked?"

"All systems are working fine, Mr Kaiba," his technical officer assured him. "But if you want to run another check –"

"That won't be necessary," Seto replied rather scathingly as he pressed the button for the top of the jet to slide down. He spoke into the microphone embedded in his helmet as he pushed the gear forward, "Prepare for take-off."

"Emergency back-up systems in place, Mr Kaiba," came the reply.

Seto carefully controlled the jet as it rolled off the runway and soared into the sky. Once the dragon was safely coursing through the skies, Seto set the jet on course for Domino City on his GPS system. Peering at the dashboard, he kept in mind the change in time zones. With any luck, he would make it in time for his image consultant's wedding. He only hoped she would not create a scene at the ballroom when she saw what he was wearing.

XO XO XO XO

Tea and the gang stared in disbelief at their Indonesian friend. She looked nothing like the usual crazy image consultant they were used to seeing. Rather, she looked more like a modernized Javanese royalty. Mischa was bouncing around the backroom connected to the ballroom in her tight wedding outfit consisting of a white kebaya made from French lace and Thai silk and a songket skirt that wrapped itself neatly around her. At the rate she was jumping about, it was a wonder her gold-plated head-dress did not fall off.

"I thought brides are supposed to be nervously happy or something," Joey remarked. He and the rest of the guys managed to rent out three matching black tuxedos from Mischa's collection. The only adjustment Mischa tried to make on them was their hair, but luckily, they managed to evade her hands. Tea had worn a one-shouldered light blue sheath dress which was once again, a gift from Mischa.

"I am!" Mischa insisted, pausing to take a peek at her heels. Once she was sure her rented Manolo Blahniks were scratch-free, she put them back on.

"But you're like… uhh… bouncing around?" Tristan asked, throwing her a questioning look. "I thought you're supposed to sit still, smile, blush or whatever it is that brides do."

The door opened and Syam peeked his head in as he grinned. "It's time! And let me tell you, Mis. I overheard a couple of girls gushing that our friend out there is a hottie all of a sudden today."

"He's here!" Mischa shrieked, scrambling towards the door. Once she caught sight of all the guests seated outside, she halted and calmed herself down by taking deep breaths. "Okay, I'm ready. Is Papi outside?"

Syam gestured at the podium where there was only one empty seat left: Mischa's. "Yeah. Om Hutama's there, so is Om Surya. Tante Rima, Tante Salfa. He's also there. In short, you're the only one not there yet." He held a hand out to her. "May I send my good friend there?"

Mischa beamed as she took his hand and let herself be led up the podium. Her smile grew bigger when she caught sight of the happiness reflected on the faces of everyone there, right from her own father to that of her future parents-in-law. But she saved the biggest smile of all for her soon-to-be husband, who looked dashing in his matching white baju kurung, complete with a slivery-white songkok.

Meanwhile, Tea and the gang scrambled to their allocated seats and sat in wonder as they witnessed their friend about to enter a new chapter in her life. Everyone in the ballroom watched on with bated breath as the Tok Kadi read some prayers first before he held a hand out to the groom. The groom took it firmly.

"Marvell Hadi Surya, I wed you to Mischa Ariyanti Hutama with a dowry consisting of a complete set of praying materials and US$500 cash," the Tok Kadi recited, shaking Marvell's hand once after completing it.

"I accept to be wedded to Mischa Ariyanti Hutama with a dowry consisting of a complete set of praying materials and US$500 cash," Marvell answered back confidently.

The Tok Kadi turned to the couple's fathers seated on either side of him as he asked them if they heard Marvell's words and if they consented the wedding to be valid. Once both parents agreed, the Tok Kadi nodded his head and raised his hands up for the prayer to complete the wedding ceremony.

At that moment, everyone in the ballroom broke into wide smiles, some of them letting out pent up laughter of relief. A few, mostly women, were dabbing at their eyes with tissue as they watched the newly-wedded couple exchange rings and cried along with Mischa when Marvell kissed her forehead. Tea looked to her side to find Joey sniffling like mad. Wordlessly, she held out a tissue paper to him. He immediately took it, blew his nose into it and passed it to Tristan.

"Maybe there'll be a similar scene soon," a familiar voice whispered into her ear.

Tea whirled around and could barely contain her delight when she saw who it was. "Seto!"

Her boyfriend put a finger to his lips as he took a quick look around. As expected, everyone else was too absorbed by the scene on the podium to notice his presence. He took the empty seat next to Tea and took her hand in his. He whispered to her with the slightest tinge of longing in his voice, "So are you going to admit it now that you missed me?"

"Like crazy," Tea smiled back at him, biting back a laugh.

Seto kept his eyes on the podium. Tea wondered how he could inject a smile into his words although technically he looked expressionless as always, "Glad to know that I wasn't the only one. Look at Mischa. I bet she's going to freak out when she sees what I'm wearing."

"Pretend you're wearing a decent Armani suit instead of your purple coat," Tea suggested to him. It was too late, of course. Mischa already caught sight of them and was making her way down. "Or not."

"Mr Boss, you made it!" Mischa shouted as she neared them. She leaned forward as if to give Seto a hug, then halted. She winced. "Sorry Mr Boss. Forgot you're not big on the hug thing." Then her perfectly made-up eyes widened in horror. "You came to my wedding in a trenchcoat?"

Seto raised an eyebrow. "I came here straight after a conference. I didn't even reapply my cologne. You need proof?"

"Ensuring that my boss stinks when I'm in my nicest outfit ever? No thanks," Mischa quickly declined. She beamed as she stuck her hand through Marvell's arm. "Guess you'd never thought I'd marry him."

"I actually thought you'll never marry," Seto replied with a half-smile. "But you proved me wrong. Congratulations, anyway."

Mischa grinned at him before she eyed her employer and his girlfriend mischievously. "So I'm happily married. When will it be your turn?"

Tea coughed while Seto continued to smirk. He peered sideways at his girlfriend as he deadpanned, "Somebody kept refusing."

"Somebody didn't know how to ask properly," Tea countered, shooting Seto a look.

There was a cough coming from behind them, and they whirled around to see an annoyed-looking Joey. Tristan had gone off somewhere to chat with a good-looking girl while Yugi was rounded up by Marvell's friends to stuff their faces with food.

"Let me guess, Wheeler is lost on the way to the buffet table," Seto remarked sardonically, crossing his arms as he threw Joey a condescending look.

"I wasn't talking to you, moneybags," Joey retorted as he shoved his way past the couple towards Mischa and Marvell. He grinned as he held his arms outstretched to give the newly-weds a hug. "Congratulations you two! Next time you two have a kid, name it Joey!"

Mischa laughed as she patted his back. "That depends what Vell has in mind. But I don't think I want to name it Joey."

"What?" Joey yelped. "It's a nice name, alright. If you don't want Joseph, then fine. Change it to an Indonesian version."

Marvell frowned. "That'll be Yusuf or Jusuf, and I don't like either. I was thinking more of Farrel Emeraldi."

"Or maybe I'll just name him Seto," Mischa quipped jokingly. That brought laughter to the newly-weds and Tea; Seto just looked uninterested, but Joey looked horrified.

Seto bent to whisper into Tea's ear, "Let's get out of here. We need to talk."

Tea congratulated Mischa and Marvell again before excusing herself. Seto led her into the backroom where Mischa was at before the wedding. Ensuring that no one saw them, he quickly closed the door behind them and locked it.

Tea tapped his shoulder lightly. "Before we start on the talk, can I kiss you? Please?"

Seto rolled his eyes but gently encircled his arms around her waist anyway. Tea giggled as she tilted her head up slightly to capture his soft lips in hers. Seto let her kiss him for a few minutes before pulling back. He took her by the shoulders and regarded her seriously.

"Tea, listen," He said in a rather urgent tone. "I don't know what is it that Caroline told Seth, but he thinks you hate Carol. I'm asking you now, Tea, do you hate her?"

She stared at him in disbelief. "I don't trust or like her, but I don't hate her. What did she tell Seth?"

Her boyfriend shrugged. "I'm not too sure myself. But it mustn't be something nice about you." He snorted. "Although she did say Seth figured it out on his own, but get real. As far as four-year-olds go, as long as you're nice to him, he'll think you're a good person."

"Carol brainwashed him to hate me? She's crazy!" Tea exclaimed huffingly. "I watched over Seth for the entire six months. And if it wasn't for me, she wouldn't have even gotten the chance to see Seth."

Seto's forehead creased into deep thought as he leaned against the door. "But maybe Seth himself came up with that idea. He's been … trying to get Carol and me to be together. Like normal parents."

"He wants to have a normal family, doesn't he?" Tea asked softly. "Him, and two loving parents."

Seto was slightly taken aback by her words, but he managed to mutter, "I suppose so…"

"Aren't you going to give him that?" Tea asked again.

"Wh-What?"

"Neither you nor Caroline had happy families," Tea carried on, looking away from him. "Can you bring yourself to let Seth experience the same thing?"

"I don't get what you're talking about," Seto lied.

"You know very well what I'm talking about," Tea said again, more firmly this time.

Her boyfriend grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her. "Stop talking nonsense, Tea! I'm not going to agree to whatever crazy idea you're proposing."

Tea kept her cerulean eyes on the floor as she eked out the words, "Break up with me and be with Caroline for Seth's sake."

"I will not!" Seto fumed. "Not now, not ever!" This time round, he made her look into his eyes as he spoke severely, "Listen to me, Tea. We didn't end up together magically. And you're asking me to break up with you as if it's as simple as snapping my fingers."

"But I can't bear it if Seth hates you because you're with me and not with –"

"Then marry me!" Seto insisted without thinking much. "Marry me, and then we can be the parents that Seth's hoping to have!"

Tea shook her head. "He wants Carol, Seto. Not me. I'm not his Mummy."

"But you will be his Mummy," Seto insisted angrily. "Marry me, Tea, then we'll take Seth away."

"And what about Caroline? We're just going to chuck her away?" Tea challenged him. "Don't you pity Seth? Seto, we're just going to have to –"

"And I said no!" Seto roared as he glared at her. Why was she insistent on giving in to Caroline? Couldn't she see that that was precisely what Caroline wanted: to have Seto handed over to her without any fight.

Tea sidestepped him for the door and hastily unlocked it. She spoke contritely over her shoulders, "If you're not going to be the one to end this, then I will."

"Tea…" Seto warned, but she ignored it.

"I'll accept the scholarship to Tokyo Dance School," Tea said matter-of-factly. She kept her face forward towards the door so he could not see the tears brimming at the corner of her eyes. "I'll accept it and leave."

"You're not going to do that."

"Try me," Tea said as her parting words before she slipped out of the backroom, leaving Seto to stare after her in anger, disappointment, frustration … she could barely bring herself to think of what other emotions he was feeling. She bit her lip as she cast her head down, letting the strands of her hair to obscure her tears.

_I'm so sorry, Seto,_ she apologized profusely as she fled the ballroom. _I'm so sorry. You can hate me if you want, but I don't want to be the reason for things between you and Seth to break down._

* * *

**just for clarification purposes, Tok Kadi is someone who's been asked to represent the bride to be married off to the groom. sometimes the bride's father will be the one to wed his daughter off, though. Mischa's wedding ceremony is a typical Malay-Indonesian/Muslim wedding ceremony, in case you're wondering.**

**and before i forget, word glossary!**

**om - uncle**

**tante - aunt**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: go Caroline haters! haha. okay, seriously, that woman is starting to annoy me, but she's still a pivotal character so she gets her scenes. oh wells.**

**personally, i like this chapter for the Seto-Tea and Seto-Mokuba scenes. haha! i've been wanting to insert a scene of Seto in the rain ever since i came across a picture of that online.**

**anw, off to Chapther 7! keep the reviews coming!**

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She fingered the scholarship letter again. _I'm doing this for Seth's sake,_ she told herself. _His sake and Seto's. _Tea picked up a photo frame resting on her bedside table and carefully traced her fingers across its smooth plastic cover. She smiled bitterly through her tears as she hugged it close to her chest. _I'm doing it for your sake, Seto. We can wait._

Suddenly, there was a knock on her bedroom door. Tea hastily dried her eyes before she called out, "Yes?"

Mrs Gardner peeked her head in. She looked confused and worried at the same time as she said, "Honey, there's somebody out there who keeps calling out for you."

Tea got up from her seat, equally confused. "Keeps calling out for me? Who… who is it?"

Her mother shook her head. "I'm not too sure who he is, but he's a really tall guy with dark hair." She squinted hard at her daughter. "Is that your boyfriend?"

"Seto?" Tea frowned. What was he doing outside her house? Didn't she already make things clear between them earlier on? She thought for a moment before deciding, "Never mind. Let him be."

"Are you sure you don't want him to come in?" Mrs Gardner asked again as she headed for the door. "It's pouring outside, you know. Even if you two are having a fight, get him to come in and you two can sort it out."

"No, Mum," Tea replied swiftly, turning back to the book she was pretending to read. "I don't have anything to say to him. Things between us are over. He just has to get used to that fact."

Mrs Gardner regarded her only daughter worriedly. Before she left, she managed to slip in an advice, "Don't let yourself be overrun by emotions wholly. Sometimes matters of the heart should be resolved with your head."

Tea mulled over her mother's words after the door closed, leaving Tea all alone in her room. Seto was outside in the rain? Tea got out of her seat and crept over to her window, but she could not get a clear glimpse of the ground. The one thing she could be certain of was that the rain outside was torrential, and unless she got to him, he would probably end up with a bad flu.

XO XO XO XO

Seto stubbornly stood where he was, under the heavy pelts of rain in front of her house. He stopped calling out her name for a while; he realized that it was of no use if his voice could not be heard in the rain. Thunder rumbled through the dark sky which was occasionally lit up with a few stray lightning. Luckily, most of the lightning was too far from Tea's house to be worried about.

He stuck his hands deeper into his pants pocket as he shivered. Although he had his purple studded coat on, it did him no good when it too was drenched. Rather, it was starting to annoy him that the heavy coat was pasting itself to his body. Shaking the rain out of his hair, he peeled the coat away from his body and let it drop to the soaked ground.

Seto could see that the light in Tea's room was on, so he knew that she was at home. The question was, would she come out like he hoped? He squinted his eyes to prevent the rain from entering his eyes, and at the same time he could make out the figure of someone leaving the house with an umbrella. In the dim light, it was hard to make out who it was. He sighed in frustration. Probably it was her mother who came out again. Seto readied himself to get it across to her that he was not budging.

He was just about to open his mouth to speak when a hard blow landed on his cheek. Seto winced at the sting of the slap. Before he could turn to glare at the perpetrator, someone rushed forward to hug him tightly.

"Why are you being so stupid as to stand in the rain?" she sobbed into his wet shirt. "What if I didn't come out? What if I let you stay out here all the way till morning?"

Seto stroked her hair gently as he whispered, "But you're out here already, aren't you? Even if you didn't come out, I'll wait until you do."

"I thought I told you it was over."

"Your tongue said that, but your heart didn't," Seto remarked.

"No, it didn't," Tea agreed, pulling back slightly so she could look at him. She placed her hand on his slapped cheek. "Does it hurt?"

Her boyfriend smiled slightly as he covered that hand with his. "It's worth it to be slapped by you." He removed his hand and returned her embrace. He brushed his lips against her forehead, then trailed it to her hair before resting his face on her shoulder. "I'm not letting you go, Tea. Not for anything in this world."

"Not even for –"

Seto cut her off with a quick kiss. He cupped her face and spoke firmly, "Not for anything in this world, Tea. In fact, there's something I want to ask you." He closed his eyes as he took a deep breath. When he opened them again, his blue eyes suddenly looked nervous. "Will you marry me, Tea?"

"What?"

Seto sighed in frustration, raking his hand through his hair. "I know, this isn't how you imagine a proposal to be like. No flowers, no hot air balloons, no serenade, no ring even. But I've never been more sincere or serious about something than I am now, Ti." He glanced at her pleadingly, "Will you marry me, Tea?"

Tea leaned in to hug him. "You know that I'd love to say yes."

"Tea, don't worry about Seth," Seto reassured her. "He'll come round. So is your answer yes or no?"

She kissed his cheek lightly as she murmured into his ear, "Yes!"

She suddenly felt her right hand being grabbed, and before she could utter another word, Seto slid something on her ring finger. Smirking, he brought her hand up to his lips and kissed it. Tea could only stare in shock at the diamond ring adorning her finger.

"I thought you said no ring!" she exclaimed.

"I did?" he asked innocently. He steered her towards her house. "Come on."

"Huh? To where?"

"Your house."

"For what?"

Seto held back a chuckle at how clueless his fiancée was. "To ask your parents' for permission for me to steal their only daughter." He smirked at her reaction. "Sorry Ti, I'm still traditional about these sort of things when it comes to you."

Tea hooked her hand through his arm as she smiled at him. "All the more that proves to me how much you care about me."

XO XO XO XO

Caroline sighed as she neared Seth again. She held up his cereal bowl towards him and begged again, "Seth, come on. Eat your breakfast, please."

The blue-eyed blond boy shook his head stubbornly. He gripped his Rooroo tighter as he continued to peer out of the window towards the driveway. "I want Daddy."

"Honey, he's in Japan, remember?" Caroline scooped a spoonful of cereal and held it before her son's face. "He'll be back soon. And he's not going to be happy if he finds out that you're not eating."

Seth let his mother feed him, but that did not stop him from questioning further. "How come you and Daddy don't live together?"

Caroline frowned as she fed him another spoonful. "Because we're not married."

"Then how come you two had me?" Seth asked out in confusion.

"It's a long story, Seth," Caroline attempted to change the subject. "Okay, hurry up and finish your cereal. I can't believe you're still having breakfast when it's almost noon!"

"Mummy, can we go to that big toy store later?" Seth asked as he downed the last of his cereal. Inwardly, Caroline heaved a sigh of relief that her son had quickly lost interest in the subject.

"Sure, honey," Caroline pecked her son's cheek cheerily, one hand swooping down to clear his bowl. "Whatever you want. Now why don't you go wash up and change into something nicer to wear?"

Seth let out a cheer as he bounded up the steps to his room. Caroline shook her head as she handed the bowl to her servants to clear. What if Seth had insisted to know the real story of how he came to this world if his parents were not married? How was she supposed to go about explaining it?

'You see, Seth. Four years ago Daddy and Mummy were engaged to marry. So in a way we were already tied to each other. Then there was a moment of folly on both Daddy's and Mummy's part, and because of that, we have you. But if you ask us, did we ever regret that moment? Our answer will be no, because you're the best thing that ever happened to us. It's just that Mummy and Daddy no longer liked each other.'

Or should she go: 'Daddy and Mummy spent a lot of time together before we had you. Then one day I discovered I had you, but Daddy was unreachable because he was very very busy. So I couldn't tell him. That's why I kept silent about you from him for years. And Mummy was sick sometime back, remember? After Mummy got better, you were already three years old and you kept asking for Daddy. So that's why Mummy went to look for him. Mummy nearly married him, too, but something happened and we didn't. It turns out that Daddy has a girlfriend, and as you know, she's Mama Tea. That's why Mummy can't marry Daddy because Daddy doesn't love me."

Caroline frowned at the thoughts. Could she really expect Seth to understand either of her explanation? He really wanted a perfect, happy family. She wanted one too. But Seto was refusing the idea although he knew it was what would truly make Seth happy. She was not lying when she said she did not drill anything into her son's head to turn him against Tea. The kid already knew that Seto was dating Tea; how could he not when he always sees his father along with that commoner? It just so happened that night, after they came back from dinner, Caroline read Cinderella to Seth as a bedtime story. How was she to expect that he would come up with such a drastic conclusion about Tea.

She had heard the theory of the evil stepmother from her son over breakfast the next day, but Caroline let it be. Maybe it would make things much simpler for her when it turned out that Seth was the one seen to be objecting to Seto being with Tea. Meanwhile, Caroline could use the time to think of how else to fulfill Seth's wish.

_When Seto comes back, I'll tell him that Seth was refusing to eat the whole time,_ she plotted out in her head. _Naturally, he'll be worried about Seth and asks him what's wrong. And of course Seth will just tell him the truth, that he wants his parents – aka me and Seto – to be together. And to keep Seth happy, Seto would agree._

Caroline smiled widely at the thought. If she had known things could be done so simply, she would not have wasted time with the entire wedding and custody fight_. Thank you, Seth,_ she thought, pleased, as she got up to get to her car. _Thank you for being such a great son_.

XO XO XO XO

"How come you didn't tell me first?" Mokuba questioned his brother as he stared at Seto, hands akimbo.

Seto shrugged. "It happened so fast."

"Right, and you had a ring on stand-by for how long?" Mokuba prodded again.

Seto feigned a yawn. "Can we talk about this tomorrow? I'm sleepy."

"Don't lie!" Mokuba leapt onto his brother's bed excitedly. "Tell me! How did you ask her?"

Seto recalled the incident as quickly as possible with the hopes that Mokuba would be satisfied and actually leave him to go to sleep. However, it only served to excite the fifteen-year-old more. Or rather, horrified him, for Mokuba said, "You asked her just like that? No going down on one knee and showing her the ring? Seto, haven't you seen how they do things on TV?"

His brother threw his head back and let out a huge sigh. "I did show her the ring, Mokuba. I just did it after she said yes. I thought that was a nice surprise."

"It was," Mokuba admitted sheepishly. "But I was hoping for once you'd do something the normal way. But whatever. I'm glad you're happy, Big Brother!"

"And I'm happy that you're happy, Mokuba," Seto remarked softly, tousling his brother's hair. "You know, if you want me to stay on for you registration day…"

"No, it's okay," Mokuba quickly assured his brother. He scrambled to the other side of the bed and snuggled himself under the covers.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm too lazy to go back to my room," Mokuba remarked simply. "And if I have any questions to ask you, I can ask them when you wake up tomorrow." He grinned. "Goodnight Big Brother."

Seto chuckled softly as he turned off the lights. He patted his brother's head lightly as he murmured, "Goodnight Mokie."


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: hey guys! finally, i managed to sneak some time in to complete this chapter and upload it. sighs. orientation week(s) at my new school takes up a lot of time. basically this chapter simply occurs at one location. and yes, caroline is being annoying. AGAIN.**

**anw, hope you guys will like this one! thanks for waiting! review yeah!**

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Tea peered at him nervously. "Are you sure about this?" she whispered.

Seto squeezed her hand quickly and muttered as he led them towards the doorstep of the Lobo mansion, "Trust me, Tea. Don't be scared."

"What if Seth really hates me?" Tea was still nervous as hell despite her fiancé's reassurance.

"We'll see," Seto murmured as he pressed the doorbell. They waited for a while for the butler to answer the door. Seto gave a curt nod as he strode into the threshold, with Tea clinging on his arm. He stopped at the hallway and looked up at the top of the stairway. He called out in a loud and steady voice, "Seth! It's Daddy!"

"Daddy?" his son's shrill, excited voice floated somewhere from the second floor. Seto heard the thumping of feet on the floor and soon Seth loomed into view. His grin faded when he saw who was with his father and he acknowledged half-heartedly, "Mama Tea?"

Tea flashed him a weak smile as she greeted him, "Hey kiddo."

Seth turned to his father and asked, "How come she's here?"

Seto stared at him warningly. "Seth, don't talk to her like that. She's going to be your new Mummy."

"But I only have one Mummy, and it's not her!" Seth pouted as he retreated up the stairs.

"Seth! Get back here!"

"What's all this commotion about?" Caroline stepped into the picture, placing an arm around her son. When she saw who her son was staring at, her expression turned sour. "Oh, it's you two." She turned to face Tea calmly, "How are you, Tea? I hope Seto hasn't been forcing you to come along with him. He can be very insistent."

Tea opened her mouth to retort, but Seto quickly cut in to answer for her, "Don't worry, Caroline. She came here on her own accord. Plus, she has the rights to come here with me."

"Rights?" Caroline narrowed her eyed at him. "What exactly is this 'rights'? Because she's your girlfriend?" She scoffed. "Seto, I have more rights than her. I'm the mother of your son."

Seto smirked back as he held up Tea's hand with the diamond ring on it. "How about my future wife and Seth's new Mummy?"

Caroline stared at him, shell-shocked. Tea slipped her hand out from Seto's grip as she dropped her gaze to the perfectly polished marble floor. She could feel the blonde drilling holes into her head with her eyes. She felt Seto touch her arm slightly before he moved forward.

"Seth, listen to me," Seto said gently, leaning down to talk to his son gently. "I know you want me and Mummy together. I wish I could fulfill this dream of yours, I really wish I could. But …" He looked away as he swallowed hard. "I know you probably won't understand any of this, but I love Mama Tea, not Mummy Caroline."

Seth cried as he insisted, "But I don't want Mama Tea as my mummy! I want Mummy!"

Seto shook his head as he sought to explain to his son, "Seth, Mummy will still be your Mummy. No one can change that fact. It's just that you're going to have one more. You'll have two Mummy. Don't you like it?"

Seth shook his head more furiously. "No! I don't want Mama Tea! I only want Mummy!"

"Seth, listen to me…"

Caroline pulled her son away from her ex-fiancé and regarded him sharply, "Seto, leave him alone."

Seto glared at her as he shot out a hand to place firmly on his son's shoulder. "What do you mean, leave him alone? He is my son."

"Our son," she reminded, shooting Tea a furtive death glare. "He's my son as much as yours, Seto. And if he doesn't want to listen to you, then so be it." She looked down to her terrified son and said reassuringly, "Seth, go back upstairs. This is between me and Daddy."

Seth said nothing as he scuttled back to his playroom. Once he was out of earshot, Caroline faced to turn Seto and Tea. The latter shuffled her feet uncomfortably. Seto seemed to be resisting the urge to hurl abuses at Caroline.

Tea raised her hand slightly as she mumbled audibly, "I… I'll wait outside, alright, Seto?"

Seto nodded understandingly, but Caroline pranced down the stairs and held a hand up. "No, Tea, don't go," she halted the brunette in a sickly sweet tone. "Why don't the both of you come here and stand together in front of me?"

Exchanging confused looks, Seto and Tea did as told. Tea approached Caroline warily at first, but an assuring nod from her fiancé erased her apprehensiveness. However, no sooner had Seto found his place beside Tea, Caroline delivered a sharp slap to Tea's cheek.

"Carol!" Seto yelled practically at the top of his lungs. He made a move as if to grab the blonde, but Tea's hand on his arm stopped him. He stared at her in shock, as if he could not believe that she was actually preventing him from grabbing her head and smashing it into the wall.

"See, Seto?" Caroline sneered triumphantly. "Your girlfriend doesn't even care. Why are you getting so worked up about it?"

Incensed, Seto gently shoved Tea away and glared at the blonde. "You…" He seethed. "What the hell is wrong with you?!"

"I'll tell you what's wrong with me!" the blonde screamed, shaking her finger wildly at Tea, who was near-tears. "She took you away from me! From Seth!"

"You're crazy, Caroline! You're crazy!" Seto roared, grabbing Tea as he stormed towards the front door. "Things between you and I are over since a long time back! Get that in your head!"

"It's not!" Caroline shrieked. A sob escaped from her lips as she jabbed a finger in the direction of the second floor of the Lobo mansion. "It never will!"

"It is, Caroline! Everything between you and me was over!"

"Then what about Seth, huh?" Caroline shot back. "He's over for you too?"

The two brunettes paused at the doorway. Seto gripped Tea's elbow and pushed her out, "Wait for me in the car."

"What are you up to, Seto?" Tea whispered back fiercely.

Seto gave her a comforting smile as he brushed a tear off her cheek. "Don't worry, I won't be doing a crime." His face grew serious again. "Now go."

XO XO XO XO

Seth hid himself behind one of the huge pots of plants at the top of the stairway. Stealthily, he peeked through the leaves to witness the scene breaking out below. He flinched in fear when he saw his mother hurl a slap to Mama Tea's face. Seth crawled towards the top of the stairway and peered through the balustrades. He just watched with wide eyes as his father came back to where his mother was and grabbed her harshly by the wrist, dragging her towards the living room. Seth hurriedly scuttled down the steps towards where his parents were.

Seth had pushed Caroline towards the couch, where she landed hard. They were deeply engrossed in a heated shouting row to even notice their son staring at them in bewilderment.

The KaibaCorp CEO was beyond furious. "I don't care what the hell is wrong with you, Carol! But don't ever drag my son and my future wife into this! If you're unhappy with me, then just be unhappy with me!"

Caroline pushed herself off the couch and stood to square off with him. Using her slender fingers, she raked her blonde rebonded hair out of her face. The Lobo Industries CEO fumed, "What do you mean, your son? He's my son, Seto! Mine! I have more rights to call him my son as compared to you! Where were you in the first three years of his life, Seto? Where were you? You were nowhere! You even completely refuse to take my calls and hear me out! I gave birth to him alone! I raised him alone! You're lucky I told him all about you. You're not fit to be his father!"

Silence suddenly ensued. At that time, both Seto and Caroline were suddenly aware of Seth's presence in the living room. Despite their fury at each other, the two of them showcased the same reaction when they saw Seth crying silently; Seto and Caroline rushed to either side of the blond boy in a bid to comfort him.

"Seth, honey, what's wrong?" Caroline looked worriedly at her son. Her face indicated that any trace of anger was gone from her.

"Did we scare you?" Seto asked gently.

Seth shook his head as he spoke quietly, "Daddy, why do you hate Mummy so much?"

His father blanched. "I… I … I don't hate her, Seth."

"Then how come you pushed Mummy?" Seth insisted again, peering questioningly at him. "If you love Mummy, then why did you push her?"

Seto heaved a heavy sigh. "Seth, listen to me. Mummy and I can't be together, alright? I want you to understand that."

"But I want Mummy and Daddy together," Seth whined.

"I'm trying to get Daddy to see that, too," Caroline muttered darkly.

Seto shot her a look before turning back to his son. "Listen, Seth. You can't always have everything you want in this world. I know it's tough to accept. But you'll have to accept that." He lowered his voice as he added on, "I learnt it the hard way, Seth. I'm telling you this because I don't want you to end up like me. Do you understand?"

Seth did not make any move to indicate he understood, and Seto sounded out more seriously, "I'm asking you again, Seth. Do you understand?"

Slowly, Seth nodded. But he moved away from his father and went to cling onto Caroline, who wrapped her hands around him protectively. There was no mistaking the blatant disappointment in Seth's features, but he no longer made it known. Seto felt a stab of guilt as he noticed his son's reaction, but he knew he had to do that. Seth was too young to be told the truth right now; this was the only way he could get Seth to lay off trying to pitch him and Caroline back together.

"I think you've upset him enough," Caroline interjected coldly. "And I hope you realize you've hurt me again. Now get out of my property."

Seto patted Seth's head lightly before turning on his heels for the door. Once the door closed behind him, Seth looked up at Caroline sadly, "Why doesn't Daddy say goodbye to me?"

Caroline hugged him tightly as she murmured, "I don't know, honey. I really don't know."


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: hello everyone! thanks for all the reviews and stuff! haha.**

**anw, i sort of ditched caroline for this chapter. i can't stand that woman. rawrs. but another problem cropped out between seto and tea. to be honest, i don't think anyone of them's at fault here.**

**so here's chap 9! keep the reviews coming!**

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Seto remained silent as he got into the limousine beside Tea. He issued the driver instructions to drive them back to his mansion before he leaned back into his seat and slid the partition. Tea put a hand on his and gave it an encouraging squeeze. Seto gave no reaction whatsoever as he kept his face down. However, he slid his hand out from underneath Tea's and crossed his arms.

Tea looked at him, slightly hurt, but she did say softly, "It's okay. I know you need time for yourself. So I won't bother you."

"You don't have to feel bad," Seto replied darkly. "That issue was …" His voice trailed off as he averted his gaze outside the limo. "Don't listen to what Caroline said. I don't know how is it that she managed to poison Seth's mind, but don't ever listen to her."

Tea was about to comment that she already knew that, but she bit back her words. Rather, she tried to sound as unaffected as possible, "Seto, it's alright. I understand everything." She peered curiously at him. "But Seto, what did you tell Caroline after I left?"

"Nothing more than what you've already heard," he muttered. "I have it all under control, Tea. Stop worrying."

"But how can I not wor –"

"Tea, stop worrying," Seto ordered plainly. Tea duly kept quiet. Probably hurt by her boyfriend's words, she shifted her gaze to look at her skirt and toy with her bag's decals. Seto ignored her actions as he turned back to looking out of the limo.

_It's not my fault I wasn't there for most parts of Seth's life,_ he thought indignantly as he recalled the earlier events. _I barely knew I had a son until last year. And Seth doesn't hate me for that. So why does Caroline keep harping on about it? I can't believe she had the nerves to accuse Tea of stealing me away from her and Seth! Since when was I hers?_

Apparently, Tea noticed the shift in his emotions. "Seto?"

"Seth doesn't hate you," he gritted out confidently. One hand was clenched tightly into a fist as he spoke. "He just thinks he hates you. He just thinks that he has to hate you because his mother does." His eyes were shut tightly as he carried on, "He's just a kid. He won't hate a person unless he's been told to do so."

Tea stared at him in disbelief. "Seto, you can't be accusing Carol of manipulating Seth! She's his mother! She would never do that!"

Seto snorted at her outburst. "I've known her for far too long to be able to disagree with that statement. Keep it in mind, she doesn't play with your head; she plays with your emotions. It's just too bad she manages to get to me everytime." _Or maybe it's payback for the way I played with her emotions a long time back._

"What did she say to you?"

"Nothing important."

"What did she say to you, Seto Kaiba?"

He promptly froze at how serious her tone was. After a few seconds of silence, he finally admitted reluctantly, "She said I'm not fit to be his father. And a bunch of other stuff that's supposed to make me feel guilty towards Seth." He cast his eyes downwards, his bangs effectively covering his face. He added on softly, "I wish it didn't, but her words are getting to me."

"You feel bad towards Seth because you're with me?" Tea asked carefully.

Seto answered firmly, shaking his head, "I'm not going to choose between you and Seth. The both of you are going to be a part of my life as much as Mokuba is. I've decided on that, and my decision's final."

"But what are you going to do? Fight for his custody?" Tea fired a rejoinder. "For God's sake, Seth's not a thing you and Caroline can toss between each other! Have you ever considered his feelings seeing his parents at each other's throat like this?" The fury in her cerulean eyes gave way to empathy as she mumbled, "I know what Seth's feeling right now, Seto. I've been in his shoes."

Her fiancé shot her a questioning look. Exasperatedly, Tea sighed and moved on with her explanation, "When I was slightly older than Seth, my parents were always arguing, always fighting in front of me. It was as if they were trying to get me to take sides, to choose only one of them. I was so terrified; I just wanted them to stop fighting and just be happy together. But of course, somehow they went for counseling and then they're able to bear with each other." She looked at him pointedly. "I love Seth. I don't want him to go through what I went through."

Silence hung in the air. Seto replayed her words in his mind, and he felt a stab of anger when he thought back to how his ex-fiancée was manipulating their son. Didn't she realize that she was harming Seth? Shouldn't her bitter past be reason enough for her to not do this to her own flesh and blood? He glanced sideways at his fiancée, and a strange warm sensation coursed through him. Tea might not be the one who had given birth to Seth, but in such a short time, she had loved Seth as much as Caroline claimed she did. Perhaps it wouldn't be too much of an exaggeration if he were to say that Tea was the one who loved Seth more. She could have, in the past few months, convinced Seth just what sort of character his mother was. On the contrary, she never put in a single bad word about Caroline.

_You should have been his mother, Tea,_ Seto thought miserably at how cruel fate was to him. _The one who's not fit to be his parent is Carol. If you were his mother, everything would have gone smoothly. I wouldn't have to endure with this crap, or try to figure out how to outsmart Carol._

Tea caught him staring blankly at her, and she snapped her fingers in front of his face. Seto woke up from his stupor. Tea looked on worriedly as she placed a hand on his cheek. Her question came out as a murmur, "Seto, you don't have to take on all of this on your own. Sometimes it's okay to let people help you."

Seto smiled tersely. "Things could have been better off if some of the ifs happen."

She squinted at him as she went, "Huh?" A disgusted look crossed her features, and she removed her hand. "You regret Seth's existence."

Seto hesitated. "I – I don't. In fact, I can't …" He swallowed hard. "I can't bring myself to despise Caroline wholeheartedly, despite all that she's done. I … I know this sounds insane, but I'm grateful she entered my life and gave me Seth. I wouldn't change that part of my life even if I had a chance. Unlike what most people think, I don't see it as a stupid mistake." He looked pleadingly at his fiancée. "Tea, I know I'm going to sound like a complete jerk, and I'm sorry for that. But deep down, I still care for Caroline, even if it's just a bit."

Tea tore her eyes away from his face. What was he expecting her to say? Tell him that everything's alright, and that she doesn't mind it? Did he even have any idea how much his confession hurt her? She quickly blinked back the tears that were threatening to spill. If Caroline still had a place somewhere in his heart, then why did he ask her to marry him? To placate and cajole her?

Apparently, Seto could read what was racing through her mind, and he hastily continued, "I asked you to marry me because I want you to spend your life with me. I know you already love Seth as a mother would, so I had no qualms about that."

"But Seth wants Caroline, not me," she objected quietly.

"Just because he wants her, doesn't mean he needs her," Seto stubbornly defended his stance. "I want Carol to remain a part of my life, but I don't need her. I already decided on who I need."

"And like you said, you don't always need the person you want," Tea shot back in an acidic tone. "I assume the vice-versa rings true, doesn't it? You don't always want the person you need."

Seto appeared shock by her sudden outburst. "What are you talking about?"

"Make up your mind, Kaiba!" Tea lashed out. Incidentally, they have reached his mansion, and she duly pushed open the door of the limo before the driver could get to it. "You say you need me, but you want Caroline! You proposed to me, became engaged to me and said you love me, but you still care for Carol! Which one of us is it that you want and need?"

"I've already made up my mind, Gardner," Seto retorted coldly. "That's the reason you're wearing my ring on your finger. I thought that you might finally be the person who can understand me and stand me no matter how difficult I am. Apparently not."

With that, he exited his limousine via the other door and made his way up the steps to his front door. Tea choked back a sob as she got out of the limo, her eyes on him. She regretted these words the moment they flew out of her mouth, "So you're saying now that you regret being engaged to me?"

Seto paused at the top of the steps and turned around to look at her. His azure blue eyes turned icy as he replied scathingly, "I didn't say that. But if you want it, I'll end this. Just don't regret afterward."

XO XO XO XO

Tea sank back into her bed. For the duration that she was to be in New York, she would be staying at one of the many guest rooms in Seto's sprawling mansion. She found it quite ironic that the biggest house in this district housed less than five people in its premises. Even then, only the first two floors were used. The basement and the other two floors existed as if only as a decoration. Nobody stepped into those floors except the maids who cleaned them up once a week.

_Does Seto revel in living in places that gives others an impression of how his soul really is?_ She wondered. Unwittingly, her fingers twisted the diamond engagement ring adorning her hand. _Great and grand on the outside, but so empty and lonely on the inside? It's the same with this mansion, and his official residence._

She was too tired to hold her tears back. _I'm trying so hard to help him pull through all of this, and I'm trying very hard to try and understand him. He's complicated, he admitted it as well. But I still try to reach out to him. Even when I was just the girlfriend, he kept on being able to keep me at an arm's length when it comes to looking into his soul. He said he chose me to spend his life with, but why is he still putting up walls around him when he's with me?_

_He wants Carol to still play a part in his life, and at the same time he needs me to be in his life._ Tea took a deep breath as she forced herself to calm down and stop crying. She needed to have a clear mind to think this through. Her cerulean eyes landed on the door, and she was suddenly wracked with guilt. Seto was going through a difficult time, and she was not making it any easier for him.

_I shouldn't have reacted like that,_ she commiserated sadly. _Accusing him of being unsure who to be with. He's right; he already chose me, not Carol. That's why I'm wearing the ring, not Carol._

_And he apologized for still caring for Carol,_ she realized with a pang as she got up to head for the door. She turned the knob urgently and hurried out. _It's not his fault he still cares for her – it can't be helped. I have to apologize to him. Oh Seto, I am so sorry…_

XO XO XO XO

Seto headed for his study rather than his bedroom. As he sat as his desk, he reached a hand out to pull open a desk drawer and took out a thin book containing several photos. He was not a photo person, but he did keep several photos with moments that mattered to him. Mokuba's made up most of it, followed by Tea's and Seth's. Of course, nobody could expect that he had a single photo of Caroline that he slid in at the last page of the book.

After everything she had done, Seto had tried his best to hate her. He had attempted to convince himself that Caroline wasn't worthy for him to care about in the slightest sense. But even till now, after he was officially engaged to Tea, his attempts failed.

He knew he loved Tea, but how much exactly did he care for Caroline? When they were arguing at her mansion earlier, and when he had accidentally shoved her onto the couch, he had wanted to reach out and grab her from falling. When she was screaming at him in tears, part of him wanted to run up and hold her until she stopped crying.

_I can't bear to see Carol cry,_ he realized. _I can't even bear to see her hurt. He shook his head furiously as he sought to eradicate the thoughts from his mind, failing miserably. I don't love her, but somehow it hurts me to see her hurt. And it just feels worse when I'm the one doing the hurting._

Seto pulled out his cellphone from his coat pocket and rested his finger on the number pad as he hesitated. _Tea's probably hurt from what I told her,_ he chided himself silently. _But so is Caroline. She hasn't done anything wrong or criminal just because she still loves me._

He scrolled down his contacts list and dialed a number. He waited until the other line answered before he spoke softly, "Hello, Carol."

"What do you want?"

"I need to talk to you. Please, hear me out."

XO XO XO XO

Tea was just about to push the door to the study open when she heard voices coming from inside the study. Hesitantly, she turned the knob, opened the door ever so quietly and peeked her head in. Seto was on the phone, talking intently to somebody. He looked serious, but not angry. Perhaps it was regarding business. She slinked back to move away, but her feet got rooted to the spot when she heard a familiar name. Anxious, she leaned in closer to the door to try and catch what Seto was talking about.

"Carol, please. You have to understand me," Seto almost sounded as if he was pleading to the blonde. "I can't be with you although I do want to do my best to make Seth happy." He let out a frustrated sigh. "Carol, I can't bear to see you hurt just because of all this. Don't do this to yourself."

He was talking to Carol? Tea could hardly believe her ears. Or her eyes, either; Seto actually looked pained as he conversed with the mother of his son over the phone. She knew he told her he still cared for his ex-fiancée, but she wasn't expecting him to still care this much. It sounded as if Caroline Lobo was his first love who he still had not fully gotten over yet. Tea shook her head and refocused her attention back to his phone conversation. Seto had moved out of his seat and was pacing near the door. Tea inched back slightly so her shadow would not be seen.

"I do care for you, Carol," Seto insisted again. "And that's why I don't want to see you like this. Throwing your life away just to get me back, making use of Seth. Don't deny it, I know you know what you're doing." He paused as he listened to what was being said on the other end. Suddenly his features softened. "Caroline, please. I loved you once. But so much has happened between us. Carol, Carol … Carol? Carol?"

Tea completely slid away from the study room and fled down the stairs back to her room. Seto lied to her. He had told her that he never loved Caroline; whatever he had with Caroline was nothing more than a period of folly. He did not just care for Caroline because he empathized with her – he loved her, and he had hidden that fact from Tea all this while.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: hello everyone! sorry i took a longer time than usual to complete and upload this one! it's getting harder for me to sneak in writing time. but let's hope the next one can be completed and uploaded faster!**

**anw, i'm so glad y'all like how the story's progressing. and i hope you guys will like this chap as well, because personally, this chapter seems to be the heaviest out of all the other chaps. i feel so bad for almost all the characters.. sighs.**

**okay, i shall let you guys continue to read! the song used at the end is Taufik Batisah's One Last. keep the reviews coming yea!**

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Seto pocketed his handphone with a sigh. With the other hand, he lightly massaged his temple. He ditched a few days of the conference he was supposed to attend only to find himself wrought in more problems than ever. He staggered towards the door and pulled it open. As he stepped out, his foot landed on a thin metallic item. Frowning, he lifted his foot and bent down to pick the item up. He immediately recognized the intricate chain and the shopping bag charm. Swiftly, he clutched it in his hand and swept down the hallway towards one of the guest rooms. When he finally reached the one he was aiming for, he knocked on the door.

"Tea, it's me," he announced, one hand turning the doorknob. Without waiting for permission to be granted, he pushed the door open. A look of despair flitted across his face when he was greeted by the sight of a teary-eyed Tea. He sat beside her on the bed and held out her bracelet. He asked quietly, "How much of my phone conversation did you hear?"

She took her bracelet back from him and attempted to put it back on. Seeing how she was struggling to fasten the piece of jewelry, Seto reached out to clasp the bracelet on for her. The entire time, Tea looked down wordlessly. Once he was done, Seto gently brushed back her hair and tilted her face up so they were on the same eye level.

"I'm sorry I lied to you about how I felt for Caroline," he launched into an explanation without waiting for a cue. He rested a hand on her shoulder. He sounded pained explaining everything to Tea, as much as it pained her to hear the truth from him. "I … I loved her. Once. I … it's hard to just let go of her after I know that she's still a part of Seth."

Tea shook her head slightly. "Is that why you refused to see her when Seth paid her visits back then?"

Seto hesitated. "Yes. I … I didn't want to come along because…I didn't want to remember when we…" His words trailed off, but he quickly picked them up again. "Tea, I don't want you to worry about anything. I chose you to be with me, not her." He cupped her face with his hand as he added on softly, "Please, trust me."

Without warning, Tea rushed forward to hug him. Shocked, Seto gingerly placed an arm around her waist and pulled her closer. With his free hand, he brushed through her hair and lightly kissed the top of her head. He had thought that his proposal would just strengthen things between them; how did they end up fighting almost immediately after that?

_It's Caroline,_ he realized angrily, gripping Tea tighter. _It's all her fault. Why can't I just hate her? It'll make things so much simpler?_

He stirred when Tea pushed herself away from him. He bent his head down, and pained azure eyes met with a pair of cerulean ones that was so full of understanding and comfort. Tea gave him a weak smile as she whispered, "Don't, Seto. Don't beat yourself up over Carol."

"Ti…"

"I understand how you feel, Seto," Tea carried on with more conviction. "I'm sorry I kicked up such a huge fuss about all this. But it still hurts to know that you lied somewhat."

Seto looked away guiltily. "Yeah, I know," he muttered back. "But it's all in the past, Tea. It only just happens that Seth is still the one bonding my life and hers."

"That can't be helped," she agreed. She shifted and leaned back into Seto, gazing out of the French doors in her room. She clasped her hand with the ring on it in his and placed it on her lap. She looked down smilingly at how the diamond ring shone. "Thank you, Seto."

He gazed down at her, confused. "Huh? For what?"

Tea rolled her eyes and held up their intertwined hands. "This ring, and your promise." She turned slightly so she was able to look up at him. "It's more than I could ever ask for."

"I just did what's right," Seto replied gruffly. However, he elicited a small smile that conveyed more meaning than he could ever convey in words. Without another word, he cradled her chin, tilted her face slightly and planted his lips on her. Their subtle kiss grew more passionate, but Seto promptly ended it before things heated up too much between them. He gestured to his fiancée's stack of books on her desk. "Somebody ought to get down to studying."

Tea glared at him. She grumbled as she pulled her Mathematics textbook towards her, "Somebody had to be the party-pooper just because he doesn't need to study."

Seto smirked as he got up to sit on an armchair. "It's optional to hate me because of that."

Tea resisted the urge to stick out her tongue at him. Rather, she grudgingly flipped to a chapter she had not revised since last year. "So is it optional to hate you because you make me so mad?"

"I'm known to make people mad about me," Seto offered a smug reply. He shrugged as he continued, "Or at me. The latter's more common, but I don't think it applies to you."

"Just shut up and sit in that stupid chair," Tea responded quickly.

He shot her an affronted look. "Do you know how much this chair cost?"

Tea's only reply was to throw a pillow at him. Laughing quietly, Seto skillfully dodged it before tossing it back onto the bed.

"Seto Kaiba, you're so lucky I'm your fiancée!" Tea said aloud, annoyed as she attempted to get back to her math. "Otherwise I'd have killed you!"

"You can do that after we're married," Seto retorted smoothly, leaning into his seat. "For now, get back to your math. Slack and I won't let you hug or kiss me for a week."

"You're evil."

Seto smirked. "I know."

XO XO XO XO

Seth held out his teddy bear to his mother. Smiling tersely, she nodded as she took it and placed it atop the clothes in her portmanteau. She zipped her luggage close and latched it locked. With a grunt, she hoisted the portmanteau off the bed and wheeled it towards the door. Opening the door with her free hand, Caroline peered over her shoulder to where her son was watching her plainly. With a slight smile, she told him reassuringly, "Don't worry, honey. We'll be leaving soon."

"Without Daddy?" Seth asked meekly.

Caroline pursed her lips as she thought for a while before answering, "I suppose we don't exactly have a choice. But it's okay," She threw him a smile as if to say that everything would be alright. "I'll leave you to get ready, okay?"

Seth stood rooted beside the bed. He did not make a move towards the clothes that were laid out on his bed. Caroline hesitated at the door. Catching sight of one of her maids along the corridor, she waved her over and passed the portmanteau to her.

"Take this to the front door, and ask the driver to prepare the car," Caroline issued her orders sharply to her maid. Once the latter had staggered off with the portmanteau, Caroline turned back to her son. Her voice was kind, but there was no joy in her face. "Seth, don't make this difficult for either of us. We both want Daddy to be with us, but he said he can't. So we can't force him, can we?"

Seth nodded in understatement, and Caroline straightened herself up, slightly pleased that her son finally understood her. Suddenly, she felt a tug at the hem of her dress. Seth was looking up at her with a hopeful look in his eyes.

"Before we leave, can I say goodbye to Daddy?"

Caroline looked away as she exhaled loudly. To be honest, driving up to the Kaiba's New York mansion was the last thing she wanted to do right now. Especially after the telephone conversation she had with Seto earlier. Nevertheless…

She glanced over to Seth as she conceded, "Alright, but you'll go in alone to say goodbye to him?"

Seth beamed. "Yayy!"

Caroline forced a smile as she tousled his hair. Whatever happened in the phone conversation earlier should just be kept between her and Seto. _At the very least, that could be my parting memory,_ she convinced herself.

XO XO XO XO

_The ringing of her handphone caught her by surprise, momentarily shaking her out of her trance as she stared blankly at the fireplace. Frowning, she answered it, and the voice on the other end was enough to startle her, "Hello, Carol."_

"_What do you want?" Carol got out from her armchair and stood with her back to the fireplace. The warm heat on her back was comforting, and it was making it difficult for her to sound annoyed._

"_I need to talk to you. Please, hear me out," Seto pleaded in a low voice._

_Caroline bit her lip as she considered her answer. Finally, she replied flatly, "Alright Seto, I'll … hear you out. What … what else do you want to tell me? You've forgotten to inflict another hurtful sentence?"_

_Seto sighed in frustration on the other end. Caroline could almost imagine him rising from his seat and rubbing his temples with his fingertips. She swallowed hard the lump forming in her throat – she knew him that well._

"_No, nothing of that sort," Seto muttered back. He took a deep breath before continuing, "Carol, I called to talk about .. us. You, and me."_

"_U-Us?" she stammered. Her heart pounded faster at the mere mention of the word. What was he playing at? She opted to take the civilized route by stating out of courtesy, "I understood what you meant, Seto. There's no us, there's only you and Tea."_

"_There is an us, Carol!" Seto insisted. "There is an us, and there will always be!"_

"_Don't say things like that to me, please," Caroline whispered back. "Can't you understand that you're just hurting me more?"_

"_Carol, I … I never meant it to mean that way," Seto replied guiltily. "I don't mean us in that sense."_

_The blonde choked back a sob. She controlled herself before venting out all her emotions via the question, "Is there no chance at all for me, Seto?"_

_The other line fell silent. When he did speak up, his voice had taken on a softer tone, "Carol, please. You have to understand me. I can't be with you although I do want to do my best to make Seth happy." He let out a frustrated sigh. . "Carol, I can't bear to see you hurt just because of all this. Don't do this to yourself."_

_Caroline could not try to bother stopping herself from crying. "So you don't care for me? Not in the slightest bit?"_

"_I do care for you, Carol," Seto insisted again. "And that's why I don't want to see you like this. Throwing your life away just to get me back, making use of Seth. Don't deny it, I know you know what you're doing."_

"_Perhaps," Caroline half-sobbed into the phone. "I'm sorry, Seto. I really am. I… I still love you…"_

"_Caroline, please. I loved you once," Seto started to say. "But so much has happened between us. Carol, Carol … Carol? Carol?"_

_Caroline disconnected the call and carefully placed her handphone atop the fireplace with shaking hands. As she walked away to head up the stairs, a sad smile crept onto her lips. At least she knew now that to him, Seth was not a mistake._

_So you did love me back then, she mused, one hand wiping a stray tear that was still on her cheek. Thank you for finally admitting it, Seto._

XO XO XO XO

"Mr Kaiba, Miss Lobo and your son's here."

Seto rose from his seat, startled by that piece of news. However, he quickly dismissed the servant and told him to send the guests up to his study. An hour before he had left Tea to date her books; it beats sitting around watching her. At least in his study, he could get back to his work and the materials for the conference. Furthermore, he was starting to feel increasingly uncomfortable with the fact that although he was in the room with Tea, the only person that his mind was on was Caroline.

The door to his study swung open, and little blonde head popped out between the crack. Seto smiled slightly as he went down on one knee and held out an arm. Seth let out a cry of delight as he ran over to hug his father. Seto gently stroked his son's blond locks.

"What brings you here?" Seto asked casually, propping Seth onto his desk. His eyes darted to the door. "Where's … Mummy?"

"Mummy's waiting downstairs," Seth replied perkily, swinging his legs. "Mummy said we're leaving, but I want to say bye-bye first!"

"Leaving?" Seto echoed. "For where?"

Seth shook his head. "Mummy didn't say."

Seto appeared pensive for a while. Caroline was taking Seth away? He recalled his phone conversation earlier. A thousand different reasons flashed into his mind. Was she running away from him because she still felt hurt by what he said? Because she couldn't come to terms that things between them should remain in the past?

_And all of this because she still loves me,_ Seto realized miserably. He carried his son down from his desk and walked him to the door. _I need to talk to her face to face._

"Daddy?" Seth questioned, peering up at his father with an unsure expression on his face.

Seto threw him a quick smile. "You and Mummy are not going anywhere tonight," he stated firmly. "You'll only leave if I say you could. But now, could you get Mummy to come up and see me?"

Seth furrowed his brow as he tried to make sense of his father's words. He replied slowly, "But Mummy said that she's only here to let me come see you so I can say bye-bye to you and Mama Tea."

"That's what she said. But now please go down and tell her that I want to see her. Then, well, you can go see Mama Tea. I'll get the butler to show her room to you."

Before Seth ran out of the door, he quickly wrapped his arms around his father's waist. "I love you, Daddy."

"Me too, squirt."

XO XO XO XO

Minutes later, another knock came on his study door. This time round, Seto personally opened the door and welcomed the next guest in. She walked in rather stiffly as she kept her face down, an indication that she was uncertain about what was to come.

"Wh-Why did you want to see me?" she finally braved herself to ask.

Seto held a hand out. "Let me take your coat," he spoke softly. Caroline duly unbelted it and handed it to him, and she did all this without even looking at him. As he slung it over the old green couch, he asked, "Carol, where are you taking Seth?"

"Somewhere where I won't interrupt your life anymore than I already had," her reply came as a murmur. She finally looked up to lock gazes with him, and elicited a faint smile. "Don't worry, I'm not taking Seth away from you. I'll send him back to you. It's just me who's going away."

Seto stared at her in shock. Despite being in tears, how could she be so calm telling him that she had decided to get the hell out of his life when everything was already too late? Maybe not too long ago, he would have been pleased by her decision. But now, for some unexplained reason, he did not want her to exit his life just like that. And Seth; how would he explain to the four-year-old if suddenly his mother vanished?

Caroline averted her eyes uncomfortably. "If that is all, then I'll excuse myself," she muttered as she headed for the door.

"Excuse yourself for what?" Seto remarked challengingly.

"To leave," she replied sharply over her shoulder. Her hand was already on the knob, ready to turn it.

Suddenly a hand shot out and yanked her hand away from the knob. Carol gasped at how painful his grip on her hand was, and she tried to twist it free. Seto was having none of it. Instead, he simply glared at her as he hissed, "Who said I'm letting you leave?"

"You had always wanted me gone," Caroline reminded him, still attempting to get to the door. By now, her voice was already on the verge of breaking. "So please, let me get to the door…"

With one movement, Seto swung her so her back slammed against the door. With his free hand, he locked it while maintaining the strong grip his other hand had on her wrist. He searched her teary eyes frantically as he uncharacteristically pleaded, "Please, I want you to stay."

"No.. you're confused…" She weakly tried to find a way to escape.

"Stay, Caroline," he repeated, more firmly this time. Before she could decline his request again, he harshly backed her up against the door and kissed her roughly. Initially Caroline thrashed against him, but as he kissed her more hungrily, she closed her eyes and succumbed.

_Never could imagine life without you  
From the moment you walked into my world  
Never know how long the loving flame could burn  
But losing you has forced me to learn  
That we can't change the way we feel inside  
And every try at love never turns out right  
We both know  
It's better if we just let it go  
_

_So let's have one last kiss  
One last touch  
One last tender moment between us  
One last dance  
To our first song  
While pretending there's nothing wrong  
Let's stay here for a while  
And, cherish every moment we're in denial  
We both know  
It's better if we just let it go_

Everytime I try to take a stand at all  
I see your face again and I fall  
In the middle of the night there's a scent of the rose  
The smell of your perfume I supposed  
But we can't change the way we feel inside  
And every try at love never turns out right  
We both know  
It's better if we just let it go

Baby even maybe we'll meet each other under a different sky  
We can always share this one special things we shared  
But it would be too much for us to be...

_We both know, it's better if we just let it go…_


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: i wonder how and why the heck did i end up making Seto such a idiotic moron in this story. but well, things are not what you think it is..**

**anw, here's chap 11! something to make up for the fact that i'll probably be on hiatus for a week? anw, keep the reviews coming! if you want to curse at any characters in this fic, you're more than welcome to do so!**

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"Did I hurt you?" Seto asked cautiously as he studied her features.

Sub-consciously, Caroline massaged her wrist and winced. "It'll bruise, but I'll live," she replied as she lowered her gaze to her lap.

"I … I'm sorry that happened," Seto forced himself to eke out an apology. His blue eyes trailed down to her neck, and his face grew somber. "Oh."

Caroline caught his gaze, and a hand flew to her neck. She unzipped her Prada handbag and took out a compact mirror. She held it near her neck, but far enough from her face so she could see what was being reflected on it. A small "Oh" escaped from her lips, and she arranged her long strands of blonde hair in a futile attempt to cover it.

"It'll go away," Caroline meant it as an assurance despite the matter-of-fact tone. She reached out for her coat. "And don't worry, it won't mean anything to me."

"You're lying," Seto remarked quietly.

Caroline steeled herself to answer him as stoically as possible, "I'm not. I'd better get going." _Before I lose grasp of reality…_

However, the brunette firmly shook his head and reiterated his earlier stance, "No. I want you to stay." He caught her alarmed look, and hastily amended his words, "What I mean is, we need to talk."

Caroline paused halfway from getting off the couch. "What … what else do you want to talk about?"

Seto fell silent for a while. "Carol … if you want, we can … have another shot. I loved you once, so maybe I can love you again."

It was Caroline's turn to fall silent. Deep down, she really wanted to say yes. It was almost everything she could ever ask for from him – an offer for her to spend her life with him. However, she told him rather acidly, "Love's not a joke, Seto. You can't just make a promise of love to someone and then turn your back on it."

Seto's eyes grew stormy as he regarded her sharply. "You're still holding a grudge against me?"

She held back her tears. _Don't be stupid, Seto,_ she thought painfully. _How can I hate you? How can I hold a grudge against you?_ She offered a simple reply, "I won't earn anything by hating you. That's the same as me hating Seth."

Seto's hand shot out to clutch her shoulders and shake it. "Then stay," he pleaded frantically. "I'll make myself learn to love you again like how I used to."

Caroline shrugged herself out from his grip and proceeded to put on her shoes. "If you don't love me, don't force yourself to."

"But I want you to stay on in my life, Carol," Seto insisted again.

The blonde dropped her face into her hands as she sighed exasperatedly. "Seto, I feel bad enough doing this. Please, just let me go. I'm not the one you need." She looked up at him with a pained expression on her face. "That person is Tea, not me."

Seto paled, as if he suddenly remembered that he had a fiancée. Then it dawned on him what he had already done. Groaning, he muttered a string of curses under his breath.

"I won't tell her anything," Caroline promised him. She brushed his cheek lightly with the back of her hand. "I know that what happened shouldn't have happened, but thank you. Thank you for making me feel happy again."

Seto wasn't quite sure how to act. Part of him felt a pounding sense of guilt. Yet another part of him shared Caroline's sentiments. And that latter emotion was overpowering him so much so that he sat up and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Maybe that can be a way of me thanking you for giving me Seth," he murmured.

XO XO XO XO

"Eh, Seth?" Tea was surprised to see the blond boy at her door.

Without warning, Seth rushed forward to hug her. Still wondering what was going on, Tea patted his back lightly. Did he come here alone? No, that's not possible; he must have came here with Caroline. So that means she must be …

"I'm sorry, Mama Tea," Seth blurted out, breaking her train of thoughts.

"Heh?" Tea glanced down at him in confusion. "But why?"

"Cos I said a lot of bad things about you," he babbled into a sobbing explanation. "And cos I said I don't like you. I like you, Mama Tea. But I like Mummy more. I don't want to see Mummy sad cos of Daddy."

Tea heaved a huge sigh as she knelt beside the boy. So neither of those two had gotten round to explaining the situation to Seth? No wonder the little guy was always so confused about everything. She seriously considered telling the truth to him, but at such a tender age of four, how much of it could Seth understand? Worse still, how would he feel if he realized that his father had never wanted to be with Caroline?

But can you bear to see Seth groping around in the dark like this with absolutely no clue what's going on? A voice in her head screamed at her. How long must he live in this lie?

She shook her head slightly. No, she told herself firmly. It's his parents' responsibility to explain everything to him. It's Seto's responsibility.

"Don't worry Seth, I was never mad at you," she assured him with a hug and a pat on the head.

"Don't need to feel bad about it." She cocked her head to the side as she eyed him. "Is your Mummy here?"

"Yeah!" Seth replied, his eyes brightening up. "Mummy didn't want to come inside, but Daddy wanted to see her."

Seto wanted to see Caroline? "Hmm… then they must be in the study. Let's go look for them, alright?"

"Okay!" Seth retorted happily as he bounded alongside his future stepmother towards the said location.

Tea peered sideways at the little tot and smiled sadly. Oh Seth, if only you know how much Seto regrets the fact that you grew up in an incomplete family, just like him and Carol. If only you could understand your parents' story…

"Mama Tea, are you crying?"

"I… what?" Tea hurriedly dabbed at her eyes with her sleeve. "No.. no. I had some dust in my eye, that's all." She threw him a believable enough smile when she saw where they already where. "So, do you want to open the door or let me do it?"

"Me! I want to open door!" Seth exclaimed, jumping up and down in front of the study door. "If I jump I can reach the round thing to open door!"

Tea laughed at his reaction. "It's called a doorknob," she informed him. "It's okay, I'll knock, and then you'll open the door, okay?"

"Yay!" the little blond boy cheered. "Faster knock, Mama Tea! Faster!"

Grinning at him, she put a finger to her lips. "Shh… we want to surprise Daddy, right? So we must be quiet." She raised a fist and was about to rap on the door when she discovered that the door was not properly closed.

Carefully, she pushed it open so as not to make a sound while signaling Seth to remain outside. However, there was no stopping her loud gasp when she saw her half-dressed fiancé cradling his ex-fiancée in his arms with the latter not even resisting when Seto kissed her full on the mouth.

Tea felt a surge of anger and hurt. What was he doing behind her back? Without warning, she roughly removed the diamond ring from her finger and hurled it at Seto's head. Seto immediately turned around when the ring hit his head. Shock immediately registered on his face when he saw Tea standing at the doorway.

"Tea!" he called out, disentangling himself from an equally shocked Caroline to run after her. "Tea, wait up!" He dashed out of the room, barely aware that his son was standing at the side watching this event unfold. He finally caught up with her at the stairway and spun her around to face him. "Tea, listen to me!"

She pushed him away as hard as she could. "For what? To listen to you create some cock-and-bull story about how she was the one who made you do it?" Tea slapped him with all the strength she had. "I'm not a genius like you, but I'm not stupid, Seto! I saw it! You were the one holding her, you were the one kissing her!" She gestured scornfully at his unbuttoned shirt and pants. "What else do you want me to think about that?"

Seto looked away in shame as he made an effort to button up his shirt. "It was my mistake," he mumbled. "I … I …"

His words got cut off when another slap landed on his cheek. Seto resisted the urge to flinch. Instead, he let Tea rant on in disgust, "I can't believe you! You call that a mistake?"

"I'm so sorry, Tea," Seto muttered sincerely.

Tea was having none of it. She asked him a hard and icy tone, "Just now … did you sleep with her?"

Seto said nothing. Tea gave out an exasperated sigh and asked again loudly, "Did you or did you not sleep with her just now?"

He still remained silent. Tea delivered another stinging slap. "I hate you!" she screamed, backing away down the stairs in tears. "I can't believe I fell for you! I can't believe I cared so much about you when you don't even care how I feel!"

"Tea…"

"You're my fiancé, Seto!" Tea sobbed through her rage. "My fiancé who stood outside in the rain and begged me to marry you! And just a few days later you're doing this to me?"

"Tea, please …"

"Do you expect me to simply forgive you after knowing you slept with another woman?" Tea cried out again. She could barely care if other people in the house heard her. She was too angry, too hurt to even care. All she wanted to do right now was vent it all out on him and get the hell out of this country. "Just because I love you and I don't mind the fact that you once loved her, the both of you treat me like this? Haven't I any feelings, huh? I nearly believed that you stopped thinking that the world revolved around you. Thank you for proving me wrong!"

Before Seto could catch up with her, Tea had already slammed the front door shut behind her. Seto could only stare at the door helplessly before he turned back on his heels to head back up to his study. Mentally, he beat himself up; how could he be so reckless and let things turn out worse than before?

He sensed a presence at the top of the stairway, and duly glanced up. A fear and guilt-stricken Caroline stood with Seth by her side. She bowed her head slightly as she spoke in a barely audible volume, "I'll talk to her."

"It's not your fault, Carol," Seto shook his head. "Leave it."

Caroline acted as if she did not hear him. She turned to her son and spoke quietly to him, "Seth, I don't want you to go anywhere. I want you to stay here with Mummy. No matter what happens, stay here."

Seth tugged at his mother's hand. "Where are you going, Mummy? Are you going to leave me?"

Caroline offered him a faint smile. "I'm going after Mama Tea. Stay here, Seth."

Seto reached out to grab her by the wrist as she passed by him. Still forcing herself to smile, she twisted her wrist out of his grip before planting a quick kiss on his lips. Ignoring his shell-shocked expression, she carried on her way out of the house.

You have all the rights to hate me, Tea, she thought silently as she sped up to run after Tea who had just exited the compound. But don't hate Seto.

"Tea, hold on!" she called out when she finally managed to close the distance between them.

The brunette halted suddenly. When she turned around to face her, there was no mistaking the rage and hatred etched on her face. Without warning, she delivered a sharp blow to Caroline's cheek. The blonde placed a hand where the blow had landed, but she did not cry.

"You're an ungrateful scum, Carol!" Tea seethed, her fists shaking by her side. "After everything I've done to help you out, you repay me by doing this?"

Caroline held out her hands, palms up, shakingly as if begging Tea to stop. Tea quickly batted those hands away. Caroline flinched to ready herself to be given another slap, but it never came. When she dared to raise her head to look at Tea again, the latter was glaring at her wordlessly.

"Tea, I am so sorry…" Caroline started.

"Save it," Tea replied coldly. "You've always wanted Seto, didn't you? You can have him." She snorted in disdain. "What am I talking about? You already had him. Twice. So you can just keep him."

"Tea, it's not what you think…" Caroline tried again.

Tea grew more irate by her feeble attempt at an explanation. "Not what I think? You think that's enough reason to just assume that nothing happened back there?" She threw the blonde a disgusted stare. "I always thought you were just adamant to get what you want. I never thought you'd stoop this low to attain them."

Suddenly Caroline lunged forward and knelt in front of Tea, grasping both of Tea's hands in hers. "I beg you, Tea," she beseeched through tears. "Don't blame Seto. Don't hate him. Blame me, hate me. You can curse me however you want. You can beat me up. But don't leave Seto. Please, I'm begging you!"

Tea withdrew her hand quickly before she took off. "Don't touch me," she warned. "I may not be as rich as either you or Seto, but at least I have dignity that the both of you don't. Now get lost from my sight."


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: hey guys! guess i couldn't stick to my one week hiatus, huh? but that's alright with you guys, i hope!**

**anw, i'm glad y'all shared the same views and feelings that i felt regarding the characters. trust me, i feel like bashing Seto too. but, as i said, things weren't as they seem. so what exactly was i referring to? hmm... you guys can check it out in this chap. haha!**

**anw, hope you guys will like it despite some harsh language used! keep the reviews coming as always!**

* * *

Mokuba was no less sympathetic to his older brother ever since Seto grudgingly spilled to him what made him return to Domino City in such a sour mood. Rather, he seemed pretty annoyed by his brother's stupidity.

"Honestly, Big Brother, what were you thinking?" Mokuba bristled.

"I didn't do it, Mokuba," Seto gritted as he shoved away his morning coffee. "How many times do I have to tell you that?"

Mokuba looked at him pointedly. "Yeah, but apparently Tea believed so. How could you be so stupid?"

Seto threw his chair back as he rose. "Don't ask me things that I've already asked myself!" He fumed, stalking off from the dining hall. "Finish up your food, and then hurry to school. I don't want to be hearing any more complaints about your tardiness. You're not even a student there for one week and already I'm hearing all this rubbish."

His words silenced his little brother beyond belief. Yet, without so much of an apology or turning back, he slammed the front door shut behind him. His driver, noticing his scowl, immediately clambered into the limousine and started the engine.

"Is Mr Mokuba coming along, Mr Kaiba?" the driver asked hurriedly.

"He's capable of going to school on his own," Seto answered sharply. "Just drive me to the office."

The moment Seto reached the KaibaCorp HQ building, he headed straight for a newly-installed elevator that would take him straight to the 27th storey that housed his office. Misa detected his sullen attitude and promptly handed him all the necessary reports before she excused herself.

However, on her way out, Seto stopped her. He avoided looking at her, "Did … Did Tea call?"

Misa threw him a confused look, but replied in a certain voice, "No, Mr Kaiba. No calls came in for you." She cocked her head to one side as she asked cautiously, "Do you … need me to contact her or something?"

Seto waved her off. "There's no need. No interruptions for the entire day. I don't care even if there's an apocalypse."

Stifling a wry smile at her employer's sardonic sense of humour even when he was in a lousy mood, Misa hurriedly excused herself. Seto pulled the files slowly towards him. He hated getting down to work when his focus was nowhere there. But he had been unable to focus on anything at all since that incident back in New York. Two incidents kept replaying in his mind – the moments with Caroline, and Tea's slaps.

Subconsciously, he winced as he raised a hand to touch where she had slapped him. He had made her furious, and although she did not show it to him outwardly to him, he had made her cry. His fists rolled up into a ball. He had made her cry…

He reached out for his cellphone that was stuffed in his coat pocket. _Why am I waiting for her to call me? He thought angrily as he speed-dialed her number. I was the one at fault! I'm the one who'll have to plead, beg, whatever._ He closed his eyes as he listened to the phone ring on the other end. _I don't want to lose her … I love her…_

"Hello?" came the familiar voice on the other end. Seto felt a strange sensation in his heart the moment he heard it.

He clutched his phone tighter. "Tea, it's me." He could sense that she was about to disconnect the call, so he quickly spoke, "Don't hang up!"

"Who are you to tell me that?" she shot back.

"The man who loves you," Seto whispered strugglingly into the phone.

"And then slept with another woman?" Tea's voice broke over the phone, and Seto wished he could rush over there and hold her. Anything, anything but to make her cry…

"I didn't sleep with her, Tea. I swear to you, I didn't go that far with her." His voice softened, "Please, Tea. I need you to trust me."

XO XO XO XO

Tea pushed her cellphone away from her face as she gave in to the tears once again. _I want to be able to trust you, Seto,_ her heart cried out silently_. But I saw you, and her. How am I to trust you? _She glanced miserably at her activated cellphone. _What do I tell him?_

"I'm sorry," she murmured as she disconnected the call and tossed the cellphone onto her bed. The tears showed no sign of stopping, and Tea hunched over in her seat until her face was in her lap. At least this way, her sobs would be more muffled. She didn't need people to know that she was still broken over the incident.

On that very day when she caught him in Caroline's arms, Tea rang up Yugi to inform him that she would be on the next flight to Domino City. The childhood friend of hers sounded surprised by her sudden decision, but even after she safely reached her homeland, he did not prod her with questions concerning why she returned in such a state. He probably had a feeling that something was not quite right. However, he opted to just be around to offer her solace: going out for ice cream with her, arguing with her the merits of their favourite bands. He even offered for him and the guys to have a cookie baking session with her, which Tea immediately refused for obvious reasons.

She appeared fine in the day – smiling, laughing, joking with Joey. When night fell, her strong façade crumbled away slowly until she came face to face with her vulnerable self in those hours when she was supposed to be asleep. The sharp features of his face would pop up in her mind, and she would start recalling his piercing azure eyes and the varying hidden emotions that came along with it. The rare moments when he really smiled or laugh. His stubbornness. His arrogance in the way he handled matters.

When she realized that her pillow was damp with tears, her mind had thought back to the gentleness of his kiss and the warmth of his embrace. He had always made her feel secure, and more confident of herself than she could ever imagine. Then her eye would catch sight of her bare finger where a diamond ring once adorned, and any sense of comfort would just die away. Hurt would overcome her, and unable to face it any longer, she would cry herself to sleep.

Tea was adamant to keep all her sadness locked up in her room. She wanted to spill it all out to Joey, Tristan and Yugi, but she simply could not. Something was stopping her from doing likewise although she had no idea what. Worse still, this devastation was like a silent killer; slowly consuming her until Tea was not sure if she could still hold herself together.

"Are you alright?" a smooth male voice interrupted her train of thoughts.

Sniffling, Tea glanced up to see long slender fingers holding out a piece of tissue for her. Mumbling her gratitude, she took it and forced herself to smile at the stranger. The stranger smiled back at her, answering her terse smile with a more laidback, casual one of his own. Without requesting for prior permission, he took the empty seat beside her and turned his hand over to reveal a packet of tissue papers in his palm.

"One tissue paper isn't going to be enough," he said with a laugh. "I don't know why people always offer one as a gesture of help when really, they should just give the entire packet."

"Like what you're doing now?" Tea replied wryly as she dabbed at her eyes.

The stranger shrugged. As he did so, his long black bangs flipped off his face. He had blue eyes, just like Seto. But while the KaibaCorp CEO's was icy-cold and unforgiving, this stranger's eyes radiated the calmness of an open sea. Tea quickly glanced away. Despite their differences, the glint of confidence in the stranger's eyes and Seto's were hauntingly similar.

The stranger gestured towards the soaked tissue paper. "So, why the tears?" Suddenly he smacked his forehead before he extended a hand, "Oh, sorry. How impolite of me. I'm Suwa Nagawaki."

Tea frowned as she tried to register the information. "How come your name sounds familiar? And your face… have I seen you somewhere?"

Suwa chuckled at her reaction. He waved his hand at the notice board behind her. "Like duh," he retorted, glancing at the pictures on the board. "Your seniors usually refer to me as the Suwa Nagawaki. Alumni, swimming ace, academic pro, Mr Rich-and-Popular." He made a face at his nicknames. "I was wondering why they couldn't gush over Kaiba." Tea stiffened at the mention of the name, but Suwa was oblivious to it as he rolled his eyes. "That guy's the richest and brainiest, and according to my sister, the hottest. But hey, guess there's some perks to being me." He paused and threw her an apologetic look. "I'm so sorry. I'm blabbering again. That's my biggest problem."

The brunette found herself laughing at his words. "No, it's alright. It's quite entertaining, actually. You remind me of my friend, Joey."

Suwa's blue eyes widened in disbelief. "Wheeler's your friend? Well, that's surprising. But don't remind it to him that I forgot to return him the uhh.. _that_ video game that I borrowed two years back." He lowered his voice. "I kinda lost it."

"So that's where the game went," Tea commented dryly. "He was frantically trying to find it back then. But he sort of gave up on it. So you can stop worrying."

Suwa broke into a relaxed smile, giving a thumbs-up to her. "That's the way to go, Tea!"

She eyed him suspiciously. "How did you know my name?"

He half smiled. "I've seen you around. So, Tea, why were you crying again?"

The smile was wiped off from Tea's lips. Wordlessly, she gathered her bag and got up from her seat. She kept her head down as she mumbled, "Sorry, I have to go."

Her newfound friend held out a hand to halt her. "I'm sorry," he said sincerely, making sure that his blue eyes looked straight into her cerulean ones. "I didn't mean to pry into your personal matters."

_Although he looks similar to Seto, Suwa is nothing like him,_ Tea thought. _Why can't Seto be as aware of my feelings as this stranger is?_

The wave of a hand in front of her face startled her. Tea blinked rapidly before she realized that Suwa was peering strangely at her. Tea could feel her face heating up. This was so embarrassing.

"I'm sorry," Tea sought a way to explain, but she ended up confessing. "It's just that … you remind me of someone that was very close to me. And … and he did something that hurt my feelings."

"Oh. I'm sorry, I didn't know that I resembled your boyfriend." He flashed her a grin as he said jokingly, "I bet you were wanting to beat me up just now."

Somehow, that managed to make Tea crack a smile. "Not really." She glanced at her watch. "Listen, I have a class to rush off to. Econs with Yukari-sensei. Have you had her before?"

Suwa scrunched his face up in disgust. "Oh God, yes. For two years straight. She successfully made them the two hellish years of my life." He steered her to the door by the arm. "Anyway, all the more you should get going. Have you ever been late for her class?" When Tea shook her head, he snickered. "Trust me, you won't want to stand outside class carrying two pails of water for the entire lesson."

Tea grinned and thanked him before she dutifully scurried away towards her classroom. Suwa shook his head laughingly as he turned back on his heels to where he had left his bag. Suddenly, something rectangular and blue caught his eye. He bent down to pick it up and flipped it open. He checked for any form of identification and he finally found one: an identity card belonging to Tea Gardner.

_She must have dropped it when she was hurrying out,_ he realized. Just then, something fluttered out from the wallet. Curious as ever, he examined what it was, only to get the shock of his life. As he put back the items back into the wallet, he mused, _Seto Kaiba's the boyfriend Tea was talking about? That's highly interesting …_ He gripped the wallet tighter as his jaw was set into a firm line. _Kaiba …_

XO XO XO XO

Seto scowled as he checked his cellphone for the umpteenth time. When Tea had hung up on him, it frustrated him. When he sent an SMS and it was still not replied, it annoyed him. Now, after flooding her inbox and voicemail, and still not getting any reply, it pissed him off.

_I need you to hear me out, Tea,_ he sent a frantic, mental plead to her. He did not exactly believe in all those ESP crap, but for now he was so desperate, it was worth a try. _What do I have to do to get you to listen to me?_

He fished for the diamond ring in his coat pocket and examined it carefully. When he had flown down to Shanghai recently, he made sure it coincided with the World Diamond Fair. He had graced the event, not so for the image of his company, but rather to survey which of the diamond rings would be the most suitable one for Tea. He finally came across one that immediately reminded him of her, and wasted no time in forking out close to US$1 million for it.

_She was supposed to wear this until the day when I can replace it with a better ring,_ he rued, clutching the ring in his fist. _But now … she hurled it at me, and returned it to me in the most undignified manner. Then again, I didn't really honour my commitment to her in the most refined way._ He swallowed hard as he amended his thoughts. _I disrespected it by offering Caroline to end it off without even consulting Tea._

After the incident in New York, Caroline had fled back to his mansion in tears. Seto had reached out to comfort her, but she quickly shoved him away.

"Stop it, Seto," she had warned him (half-heartedly, he knew). "I don't want to make matters worse. I sacrificed my ego, and I've had one slap from your woman. I don't intend to get another one."

"What are you trying to imply?" Seto had asked cautiously.

Caroline had stared straight into his eyes and said confidently, "I'm leaving. And I'm taking Seth. Until you decide who you want, don't bother to look for me or him."

"You're just going to take Seth and run?" Seto had thundered, grabbing her by the wrists. "Is that all you're capable of? Running?"

The blonde snorted at how ridiculous he sounded as she twisted her wrists free. "And is this all you're capable of? Putting the blame on others? I'm not going to take responsibility for something that wasn't my fault."

"What?"

Caroline had already dragged their son towards the front door, tugging at Seth's hand each time the kid turned around. Over her shoulders, she replied, "You did all those on your own accord. Don't use me as an excuse to suck up to your fiancée. If she left you, that just goes to show she doesn't trust you enough."

Seto had mustered all his fury and delivered it through his death stare and low, ominous voice, "You're a bitch, Caroline."

"Who you lusted for," Caroline had eyed him slyly before exiting. "Let's face it, Seto. You say you love someone, and lust another. Tell me, what sort of love is that?"

Seto sighed as he attempted to dredge the memory from his mind. How did he allow himself to be so intoxicated by Caroline for that moment? Ever since Caroline had left his house just like that, her last few words lingered in his mind. Was it true what she said? That he had been with her out of lust and not love? As much as he wanted to believe it – it would make despising her so much more easier – he knew that it was the other way round. Whether he liked it or not, he had loved her at some point in time.

_But that's the deal,_ he reminded himself stubbornly. _Me and her was once upon a time. But why did I …_

"This is bullshit," he muttered as he leaned back into his chair, pressing a hand to his temple.

Without warning, his office door slammed open and a large object came hurling through the air in his direction. Seto ducked and let the object crash against his shockproof window. He peered at the object and discovered that it was a handbag. Or rather, it was a very familiar Louis Vuitton handbag. With an unimpressed expression, he picked the handbag up and held it out for the crasher.

"Welcome back to the office, Mischa," he greeted his image consultant somberly.

Mischa grabbed the handbag back from him as she continued to seethe, "I am so tempted to smack you directly on the hand with the buckle of my handbag, you know that Mr Boss? But I can't cos then I'll be assaulting my employer!"

Seto gestured for her to take a seat, and she did. "I'd like to say I don't know why you're so furious at me, but I'm assuming it means you knew."

"Yes," Mischa replied acidly, glaring at him. "Thank God for Mokuba. Why the hell did you mess up with Caroline for?" She eyed him carefully for a while. "Tell me, did Tea slap you? Cos if she did, then I don't have to."

"She slapped me. Thrice," He informed her. "So there's no need for you to slap me." No sooner had he said it did another slap landed on his cheek. It was much more painful than Tea's, and it effectively shut the CEO up.

Mischa blew at her palm and shook it in the air. "That felt great. You deserve more than just a slap. You deserve to be beaten up. I'll ask Misa to pen in a getting-beaten-up-section for you next Tuesday. I'm sure Marvell and our friends would be glad to participate." She fished a clip out from her handbag and pinned up her fringe. At a fleeting glance, Seto noticed she had a new hairstyle again. "Anyway, are you positive you didn't do it with Caroline?"

"How many times do I have to tell it to you people?" He shot back in annoyance.

His image consultant held up a hand, signaling him to keep quiet while she spoke, "Okay, so you didn't do it. Then shouldn't that be a good thing? Shouldn't you be able to explain to her all about it?"

Seto gritted his teeth. "I tried, Mis. Countlessly. But how the heck am I supposed to explain it to her when she won't even listen to me?" He flicked his fingers in the direction of his cellphone. "I've tried everything. SMSes, calls, voicemails. She's not answering them."

"Or maybe she's avoiding you." Mischa suggested.

Seto raised an eyebrow. "Haven't you got a better reason than that?"

Mischa let out a frustrated sigh. "I have a better question which just goes to prove you're not as mighty smart as you think you are. Why the hell aren't you doing anything to win her back?"

"Huh?"

"Mr Boss, in a relationship, it's not just enough to know that the other person loves you," She advised her employer as how an older sister would. "If you hurt her, you can't expect that she'll come round and just come back to you like nothing's wrong." She touched his hand gently. "Win her trust and love back, Mr Boss. Prove to her that you really do love her." She reached in for something in her handbag, pulled it out and slid it across the desk to him. "Don't ask me why I always have an idea you need all these sort of stuffs. If she doesn't want to listen to your explanation, then make use of the words for something else."

XO XO XO XO

_You're a bitch, Caroline._

_You're a bitch, Caroline._

_You're a bitch, Caroline._

Caroline shook her head furiously as she tried to get the voice and words out of her head. It hurt, but she chose that path, so she had to take it all face on. It was the only way she could get him to actually wake up, smell the coffee and make a decision between her and Tea.

She knew her words came out harsh, her sudden change of heart seemingly mean. If it incensed Seto to hear her accusing him of coming after her simply for lust, it killed her to spit it out to him as confidently as possible. Deep down, she really hoped that lust was not the case between them. She loved him too much to be able to take it if he suddenly announced that all along he had mistaken lust for love.

Part of her wanted to give in to her selfishness and claim Seto all for herself. Didn't he tell her that he could try to love her again, if given the chance? She would do all it takes to make him love her again. It did not matter how long it took, as long as in the end Seto gave his heart for her only. Yet each time she considered flying back to Japan from Milan where she now resided with Seth, Tea's face popped back in her memory. To be more precise, Tea's hurt, angry face. Caroline could empathize with her; she already felt what Tea was feeling once. Still it did not ease off the guilt piling on her conscience.

_Seto will make his choice, _she told herself firmly as she glanced at her reflection in the mirror._ He will make the decision that's best for him._ Caroline reached a hand out to trace the outline of her face in the mirror. _As much as I hope it's me … whoever he chooses, I'll accept it._

XO XO XO XO

The bored silence in the classroom was suddenly replaced with an excited chatter following Yukari-sensei's latest announcement. To everyone's delight, it was her last day at the school, and in her place would be a new teacher. Of course, the buzz was actually caused by a circulated rumour that it would be a young, good-looking male teacher. Almost every girl in class was excited to find out who he was. The only one not remotely interested was Tea. Even her guy friends seemed more excited than she was.

"I heard it's some alumni," Tristan commented, glancing furtively at the doorway. "Apparently, he was quite a favourite figure here too once upon a time."

"When you said once upon a time, do you mean five years ago or fifty years ago?" Joey interjected stupidly.

"If a sixty-year-old guy is young to you, then perhaps," Tristan replied simply.

"Hey guys, I think the teacher's almost here," Yugi told them, and they all settled back into their seats.

The commotion died down as everyone focused their eyes on Yukari-sensei. She announced as she gestured towards the door, "Everyone, let me introduce you your new Economics teacher, Mr Suwa Nagawaki!"

Tea's head swiveled towards the door. Suwa Nagawaki? Did she hear it right?

As if to answer her, the said teacher strode in. Brushing his long black bangs out of his clear blue eyes, he beamed at the entire class and waved, "Hey y'all! As Yukari-sensei already told you, I'm Suwa Nagawaki, and I'll be your new Economics teacher! And also," He lowered his voice as he stepped closer towards the class. "I'll be your new form teacher. So don't I get a nice welcome cheer?"


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: hey guys! finally, the login/submission area is working! i've been wanting to post this like forever :/**

**anw, i shan't waste anymore of your time reading my blabbers. off to chapter 13!! keep the reviews coming!**

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Once his former Economics teacher left the classroom, Suwa Nagawaki closed the door promptly behind him before turning back to his new students. "I thought that old hag would never leave," he commented jokingly, getting agreeable laughter from his students. "But let's keep what I said between these four walls. Anyway, before I launch into matters of macroecons, just a quick check. How many of you actually understood what the heck Yukari-sensei taught you?"

Nobody raised their hand, drawing much more laughter and whistles from the people in class. Suwa raised his hands and lowered them slowly. The noise gradually died down, and the students observed curiously as Suwa plugged in his laptop to the projector. Noticing his students curious stare, he straightened himself and flashed them a grin, "I'm anti-whiteboard. The marker dust specks are disgusting. Anyway, before I digress any further, let's get back to the topic at hand. For everyone's benefit, I'm going to run a speed recap on the fundamental concepts of econs. Deal?"

Almost everyone jumped at the chance to agree with him. For the first time in the entire year, the class actually bothered to listen in and pay attention as Suwa introduced the principles via real-life applications. Tea was quickly included in one of the economics enthusiast converts as she listened in intently, captivated by the way he made everything sound so simple and entertaining. Yet she still could not shake off the nagging feeling that she had met him before, and not just saw him around the school.

Someone suddenly poked her. Tea turned to see Yugi signaling towards the front of the class. She diverted her gaze in the direction to see her new Economics teacher grinning lopsidedly at her. Tea could almost feel her face burning with embarrassment. However, she dared to ask him again what was his question.

"We're using Kaiba Corporation as our case study," Although it was an innocent comment, for some reason, Tea could sense some well-hidden dripping sarcasm in his words. "We've already talked about three input factors, so we're left with the last one, entrepreneur. You wanna tell us about that? Or let's make it easier. Who is the entrepreneur?"

Tea blanched. Out of all the examples in the world, he had to select Kaiba Corporation? And out of all the people in class, he had to call on her to provide the answer to that question? An answer that required her to say his name at a time when it was the last thing she wanted to do?

"Miss Gardner, we're waiting."

Keeping her head bowed, she mumbled, "Seto Kaiba."

"Speak up, please."

"S…Seto … Kaiba," Tea forced herself to say his name aloud. By the time she sat back in her seat, her misery returned. _Seto … how is he? Was he hurt by what I did, ending off the call like that? I know I'm supposed to be furious at him, but I can't help missing him. So much happened between us. How did we end up fighting like this?_

Absentmindedly, her eyes drifted to her bare ring finger. Tea could feel tears welling up. _Why did you break your promise? Are you taking me for granted just because you know I love you?_ She clenched her fist at the same time she pressed her eyes shut. _I miss you, Seto. But I don't know if I can quite be with you now._

The sharp sound of the bell signaled the end of the lesson, and everyone scrambled to leave the classroom, but not without shouting an amicable goodbye to their new teacher. Tea was the last to leave, as she struggled to pack her bag and hide the fact she was half-crying at the same time. She had let her friends head out first, nodding blindly when they told her to meet up with them at the school entrance. She had no intention to let them know that deep down inside, she was falling apart.

A familiar blue wallet was gently placed on her desk. "I'm sorry I made you answer the question that required your boyfriend's name as the answer," Suwa remarked, sitting across her. "And oh, you dropped your wallet just now, so…"

"It's okay, it was just a lesson example," she replied, shrugging her shoulders. With her thoughts someplace else, she barely had the time to think and wonder how in the world he knew about Seto. She dumped her wallet into her backpack and hoisted it onto her back as she stood up to leave. "Anyway, thank you for returning me my wallet. I'll see you tomorrow, then, Mr Nagawaki."

He suddenly reached a hand out to grab her wrist, stopping Tea in her tracks. "It's Suwa. Tea, please," he spoke quietly. "Don't you remember me?"

"R-Remember you?"

Suwa sighed as he let go of her wrist. "Of course you wouldn't. It's been what, five years?" Seeing her confused expression, he sighed again. "Tea, do you remember that weirdo senior that tried to ask you out on your second day of school? The one that, well... naturally, freaked you out and then you threw a book at?"

Tea simply stared at him. "You were that moron? But you look so different now!"

"Well, it was five years ago," he commented. "You look different too."

"That's besides the point," Tea interjected. "I mean, why are you telling me all this?"

Suwa merely flashed her a grin. "Cos I want us to be friends. If five years ago we couldn't, then let's be friends now." Tea looked like anything but believe in what he said. Finally, in a resigned tone, he admitted, "I liked you since back then. I just thought if I come back to teach here, I'd have the chance to see you again. Of course, technically that's a stupid thing to do, but hey, I am stupid. Listen, I'm not asking for much, just that we'll be y'know, friends."

Tea was still hesitant. Suwa assured her again, "We'll be friends on weekends and off-campus. But when it comes to anything related to school, trust me, I'll treat you just like the rest. That said, I just gave you an E for your previous assignment. It was so lousy; only one short analysis. Honestly, what has Yukari-sensei been teaching you people?"

Tea raised a hand up and threw him a small smile, "You can stop there. I get it."

XO XO XO XO

Seto sealed the envelope and handed it to an awaiting Roland. "You don't have to send it personally," Seto remarked, diverting his attention to the latest report about KaibaLand USA. "Just leave it at her doorstep if no one's at home."

Roland shook the envelope. "May I know what's inside, Mr Kaiba?"

Seto gave a wry smirk as he said tiredly, "It's anything but a bomb. When it's delivered, tell me about it."

His right-hand man bowed quickly before taking his leave. Seto glanced out of the floor-to-ceiling window of his office. _I hope it's enough,_ he commiserated. _Because truth be told, I don't know what else to do._

The phone on his desk beeped, and Misa's face came on the screen. Seto picked up the receiver and listened to what she said, "Mr Kaiba, there's someone here to see you. He didn't state that it's urgent, but just that he hoped you can spare him some time."

"Who is it?" Seto inquired crossly. Peering through the corner of his eyes, he flipped through the reports. "I have a lot of things to do. Get whoever the person is to make an appointment. But if it's Joey Wheeler, get security to throw him out."

"It's Mr Yugi Mutou, sir," Misa informed him matter-of-factly.

_Yugi? What is he doing here?_ However, Seto hid his shock and issued entry for his nemesis. Moments later, the French doors to his office swung open and Yugi toddled in. His usual cheeriness was gone as he regarded Seto with a hard stare.

"What, you're in the being-the-other-me mood?" Seto said as a form of greeting.

"I don't appreciate your sarcasm now, Kaiba," Yugi retained his seriousness as he placed his backpack in the seat across Seto. "What have you done to Tea?"

Seto eyed him coldly. He spoke icily, "That's none of your business, Yugi."

"It is my business, Kaiba," Yugi objected. "Tea's one of my best friends. I'm not going to just sit around and watch her suffer. I'll ask you again: what have you done?"

Seto lifted his chin defiantly as he snorted, "Yugi, if you came here just to lash out at me, then you're wasting your time. You might as well just punch me in the face, aim some abuses at me and then leave."

"You're suffering as much as she is, aren't you?" Yugi asked quietly.

His words startled the brunette, but Seto almost quickly regained his usual coldness. "Don't be ridiculous, Yugi," he muttered, looking away from the spiky-haired boy.

"Even if you don't want to admit it, at the very least, be aware of how Tea's feeling! She's hiding all her sadness from us, but I know she's suffering inside! Do you know that?"

"Leave now, Yugi," Seto spoke in a low voice.

"I'm not here to blame you, Kaiba. I'm just here to tell you that if you really love Tea, don't do this to her," Yugi said sincerely, walking towards the door. "But if you don't love her, then tell her earlier. Good day, Kaiba."

Seto gritted his teeth, reining in his anger until Yugi disappeared from his sight. The moment the French doors closed behind Yugi, Seto hurled a paperweight at the door. The glass globe shattered into smithereens. "Don't act as if you know it all, Yugi!" Seto roared in rage. "Don't act as if you know how much I love her, because nobody except me does!"

He pressed his eyes shut and took a deep breath in a bid to calm himself down. The last thing he needed was a recurrence of his illness. _You're suffering as much as she is, aren't you?_ Seto shook his head furiously, trying to get Yugi's words out of his mind. Yet the more he tried to do so, the more persistent those words became.

Rashly pulling out a drawer, he rummaged for a bottle and shook out two pills. His eyes drifted to the thermos flask in the far corner of his office, but he just could not be bothered to get up. In the end, he swallowed those pills dry and leaned back in his leather chair. He needed a break. He just needed a break from all of this madness.

_Maybe when I wake up, all of this will just turn out to be a nightmare,_ he thought morosely. _None of all this things happened, and none of these problems existed._

XO XO XO XO

Tea was about to step into her house when her foot kicked something on the floor. Frowning, she picked the object up. It was a large manila envelope, with her name written elegantly on it. Tea felt her gut constrict. She recognized the elegance of the handwriting. With shaking hands, she unsealed the envelope and out popped a cassette tape. There was a note attached to it, too:

_Listen, and I hope you understand._

There was no signature or initials to indicate who it was from. Tea had a sinking feeling she knew who the sender was. Still, that did not stop her from crossing over to her radio set and popping the cassette tape in. Deliberating only for a second, Tea punched the 'Play' button and retreated to the couch to listen to it.

_In the story, the beginning,_

_Clarity, changes, ending some are forgotten.  
How many wrong choices have I made  
Originally the twists and turns were showing me which direction to go,  
Directing you and me to arrive at this moment._

_Even if others say that we don't have a future,  
It is impossible for me to give up so easily.__he more we need to keep walking forward._

'Cause you're my everything,  
The one and only reason,  
Allowing me to face this world bravely.  
Want to give you everything,  
No matter how many tomorrows it takes.  
Forever will start from this moment.  
Your love is my everything.

In this vast world, the coincidence of our meeting has how many chances?  
How many fireworks crash without a trace?  
Because happiness doesn't have shortcuts, detours are unavoidable.  
The more support that is lacking, t

Even if others say that we don't have a future,  
It is impossible for me to give up so easily.

You are everything,  
Only this reason  
allows me to face this world bravely.  
Want to give you everything.  
As long as you say you are willing,  
Only then will the future be meaningful.  
Your love is my everything.

'Cause you're my everything,  
only this reason,  
Allowed me to face this world bravely.  
Want to give you everything,  
No matter how many tomorrows it takes.  
Forever will start from this moment.

_You are everything.  
Just like this reason,  
I will forever remember this feeling.  
Want to give you everything,  
As long as you say you are willing,  
Only then will the future be meaningful.  
Your love is my everything_

By the time the song ended, Tea was reduced to a racking pile of sobs. _Seto sang that for me, _she realized. _He didn't have the best voice in the world. I know he knows that. He doesn't like to be open about his feeling. But still he made the effort to express it._

She reached for her mobile phone in her backpack and cradled it close to her chest. _Do I call him? Do I forgive him this easily, after how he shattered my trust?_ She cried again. _I love him, I miss him, but I just don't know if I should go back to him._

Tea placed her mobile phone on the coffee table as she wiped her tears away stubbornly. _Not so soon. Not so easily. How do I know that he won't repeat the same thing?_

XO XO XO XO

Suwa tossed his red pen onto the stack of essays in frustration. He had tried his best to focus on grading these papers, yet all he could think about was Tea. She was the only reason he turned down his father's offer and join the teaching force. Of course, with his influential status, he was given the chance to choose where to teach. Tanaka Academy had offered him a place. He turned that down as well and selected Domino High. He had counted the years, and he had been well aware that she would be in her final year there.

A knock came on his door, and Suwa called out, "Come in."

A stern-looking but well-groomed middle-aged man strode in. Suwa got up and acknowledged the man politely, "Father. Is anything the matter?"

Nagawaki Senior looked at his son sharply, then let out a defeated sigh. "Suwa, are you sure you want to carry on with your plan? Spending all your time surrounded with school matters, planning lessons, enduring those stubborn kids."

Suwa gave his father a half-smile. "Father, I want this job. I love the subject that I'm teaching."

"But you could have applied it more realistically if you took up my offer," Nagawaki Senior argued. "I'm getting old, Suwa. Surely I need someone to take over my place as NGK Bank's director. Who else is more deserving of it other than my only son?"

"Why don't you get Big Sister to do it?" Suwa suggested.

His father shook his head in disapproval. "Suwa, you know there's no way Hikaru would give up her current job just to take over a bank."

"Why? The bank is less hassling as compared to the UN," Suwa countered.

"But she loves her job as an intrepreter, nevertheless," Nagawaki explained wearily. "I have two children, and none of them wants to take over my job. Tell me, Suwa. Is being a bank director really that bad?"

"That's why we told you and Mother to try to get another kid," Suwa chuckled at his father's words. "But really, Father. I didn't study banking."

Nagawaki Senior fell silent. Turning his back to his son, he spoke, "It's alright, Suwa. I won't force you to take on anything that you don't want to. That is how you were raised."

Suwa winced at his father's words. _I'm probably doing the most stupid thing on Earth by letting my dad tug at my heartstrings, but …_

"Alright, Father," he said finally, rolling his eyes. "I'll give it a shot."

"Really?"

"On one condition," Suwa warned. "I still get to be a teacher. This bank job is just part-time."

"A part-time director. How interesting," Nagawaki Senior mused. "In any case, come by the office on Monday. I'll have to introduce the new President of NGK Bank to the board of directors."

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**and oh, the song used is one of my current faves, Everything by Wang Leehom! i'm assuming Seto's voice is decent enough, but nowhere near Leehom's. muahaha.**


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: hey guys! this is gonna be a pretty short chapter (and overtly simple too) but i think it still plays an important role in this fic. could it be a turning point in the story? *shrugs* we'll see. heheh.**

**okay, off to chapter 14! (suddenly i wish caroline was back in the picture. hmm...)**

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The moment the students received their Economics essay assignment back, Suwa Nagawaki turned from favourite teacher to most hated teacher. Tristan had joined the rest of the class who were haranguing their new teacher for marking their work so critically. Tea, who had already known about her E grade beforehand, just stayed in her seat which was flanked by Joey's and Yugi's. Joey received a U for his assignment, but the blonde looked anything but affected. Yugi was looking on miserably at his F.

"Cheer up, Yug," Joey said as a form of failed assurance. "At least your grade is better than mine."

"But I toiled for this assignment," Yugi sounded even more sad than he looked. "And I got an F!"

"Ah, heck," Joey grunted, grabbing Yugi's assignment from the table and shuffled his way over to the crowd. "I'll try to get an E for ya. You'll see."

Yugi stared after his friend with the most pitiful look possible. Once Joey was safely ensconced in the crowd, Yugi turned to Tea. She was slightly taken aback when she saw that Yugi suddenly looked serious and not dismal.

"Has Kaiba apologized to you?" Yugi asked politely.

"A-apologize?" Tea stammered. "W-what … why does he need to apologize?"

"I know that he's done something to hurt you, although I have no idea what it is," Yugi explained simply. "But what I know is that you're suffering. And he is, too."

"Yugi…"

"And I bet he's apologized to you," Yugi continued. "He has, hasn't he?"

Tea dropped her gaze to the table. "Y-yeah. He sent me a tape. He …" She peeked around nervously to ensure that no one was within earshot. "He sang a song on the tape."

"He what?!" Yugi yelped, but Tea hurriedly clamped a hand over his mouth.

"Not too loud!" she hissed. "I know he knows he can't sing, and the fact that he's done that…"

"Get back with him, Tea," Yugi told her firmly. "I don't want to see either of my friends suffering and hurt because of love." He placed a hand gently on her shoulder and gave it a squeeze. "You'll return to him, alright?"

Tea shook her head half-defiantly. "I don't know if I should do that, Yugi. What he did really hurt me…" She looked desperately at him. "Yugi, I caught him cheating on me with Caroline. He was about to have …" Tea's words faltered as she bit her lip to stop herself from crying.

Yugi shot her an incredulous look. "And you didn't even tell us about this? You kept his infidelity a secret from us even after we made him promise never to hurt you like this?" He pushed himself off his seat. "I'm telling the guys."

Tea shot a hand out to stop him. "No! Yugi, please. This thing is between Seto and me. You guys don't have to get yourself involved, really." She caught sight of Joey and Tristan marching back to their seats, crossed. "So how was it, guys? I told you there's no need to go over there and attempt to change his mind. It won't work."

Apparently, at the same time, the rest of the class had settled back in their seats and reluctantly hearing out their teacher's explanation. Unexpectedly, he entered class late earlier that day, and instead of being dressed in his usual formal gothic outfit, he was dressed in a tailored suit. Secretly, Tea agreed with the rest of the girls that he looked sharp in it. However, unlike them, she kept her opinion to herself.

"Okay guys, first things first," Suwa said calmly, casually sitting on his desk. "I'm not evil. I'm being fair and practical in marking your scripts like how your entrance exam scripts would be marked. But don't worry, I'll make sure that I'll guide every single one of you such that you'll be able to write decent essays before you sit for your entrance exams. Is that clear?"

"Yes, sensei," the class grumbled back in unison.

Suwa shot them a relaxed grin. "And the other issue has nothing to do with you guys, but I just thought it'll be polite to tell you guys. Technically, as of this morning, I'm the new director of the NHK Bank." Stray short shrieks from some of the girls in class ensued. Suwa simply chuckled as he winked at them. "Stress on the word technically. But in practicality, my job as your teacher supersedes it. So don't expect me to be missing lessons, alright?"

As if on cue, the bell rang and Suwa promptly dismissed them. Almost all of the students leapt out of their seats and evacuated the class. Tea was perhaps one of the few who could not be bothered to join the Exit Race. Just before she was about to leave, a hand enclosed itself around her wrist. Surprised, Tea turned to see who it was. As expected, Suwa was grinning cheekily at her as he held out an envelope.

"Here, for you," he pressed it into her hand before sleekly sliding out of the classroom. "I'll pick you up at six."

XO XO XO XO

Seto maintained his skulking presence at the corner of the ballroom, a glass of white wine for mere decoration in his hand. To be honest, he had no desire to drag himself out of the office and attend this stupid gala dinner by the NHK Bank. He had wanted to simply send Misa as a representative, but after much persuasion by her, he agreed to just turn up and honour his invitation. On one side of the equation, it seemed to be a wise choice; at least he could get his mind off Tea and her non-existent answer to his indirect apology.

"Seto Kaiba?" a deep voice acknowledged him from behind him. Seto turned around with his best hospitable expression.

"Suwa Nagawaki," he greeted back. His politeness sounded more sarcastic than sincere. Seto gestured to the guests milling about in the ballroom. "It's a rather nice event you've put together."

His counterpart grinned, flicking his black bangs off his forehead. "My dad planned this. I just played my part by turning up." He let out a nervous laugh. "Of course, I don't quite feel I deserve the post. I'm just doing it for my dad's sake."

Seto gave him a crafty smirk. "So why take on a job when you have no desire to do your best in?"

Suwa seemed slightly taken aback by his words, but quickly composed himself and responded with an equally condescending look. "I never said I don't intend to do my best in it. If you can ace both your corporate job and your education – despite your near-zero attendance – I don't see why it should be a problem for me."

"Maybe because unlike me you'll have to show your face in school and do your work every single day?" Seto offered the most obvious drawback in his most sardonic tone.

"Oh, so you knew about me being a teacher there as well," Suwa sounded pleased that Seto was aware of the truth. "I can fail you for Econs simply because of your non-existent attendance. But I think that's the least of your worries."

Seto narrowed his eyes at him. "What do you mean?"

"You'll see," Suwa replied smugly, turning on his heels to walk away from the half-angered KaibaCorp CEO.

Seto resisted the urge to rush up and punch the older guy in the gut. Instead, he lingered where he was and simply observed the black-haired bank director weave his way through the crowd, winning them over with his easygoing smile and charming personality. Seto snorted. There was no way he could lead a bank with that sort of attitude. Instead, he would just be stepped all over.

Feeling that there was no more need to stay longer at the event, Seto placed his untouched white wine back on the table and headed for the door, buttoning up his jacket in the process. Suddenly, for some reason, he felt the urge to look to his right.

Suwa was introducing his female guest to his corporate associates and vice versa. As expected, the relaxed vibe that Suwa seemed to emanate made it less awkward for his guest and his associates to interact. What incensed Seto was not the interaction between the female guest and the corporate magnates, but the identity of the guest. Even without getting near, Seto had no doubt who the lithe brunette in the ravishing red dress was. Seto abandoned his plans to leave and instead, marched towards the group.

"Excuse me, Mr Nagawaki," Seto interjected loudly and bluntly. He made it a point to stare at a shocked Tea Gardner who was standing beside him. "May I have a word with you before I leave?"

Suwa appeared puzzled, but excused himself anyway. He followed Seto out of his mansion's boisterous ballroom and into the quieter balcony. He rested his arms on the railings as he asked Seto, "So what's up? I'm sorry if my actions were over-the-top earlier on. It's just that … it's unnerving when you get such comments before you even start work, y'know?"

"I don't give a shit about that, Nagawaki," Seto replied straightforwardly. "I'm just here to warn you."

"Huh? Warn me?"

Seto ensured that he gave him his best death stare as he spoke in a low, deadly voice, "Stay away from Tea."

"And if I say that's impossible?" Suwa challenged.

Seto's hand shot out and roughly grabbed the collar of his supposed Economics teacher's shirt. "Then I'll make it possible," Seto growled. "You won't like it."

"You are aware that I'm her form teacher as well, aren't you?" Suwa replied incredulously. "And aside from all this professional relationship I have with her, I've liked her since a long time. Even before I graduated and you stepped foot into the school."

"Stay away from her, Nagawaki," Seto reiterated his threat.

"Let go of him, Seto," her words immediately caused Seto's grip to slacken. Tea slowly walked up to him and touched his arm as she looked up at him pleadingly. "Please don't cause a scene here."

"Are you seeing him?" Seto questioned bluntly.

"Seto, do you think I could bring myself to see anyone after what you've done?" Unintentionally, Tea brought the subject up again. She gently pushed Seto towards the exit. "Please, Seto. If you're just going to create a scene here, then it's better if you leave."

"I'm not letting you go, Tea," Seto told her darkly, shooting murderous looks at an uncomfortable-looking Suwa. "You're mine."

"Seto, please.." Tea pleaded again.

"I'm leaving," Seto almost spat the words out. Suddenly, he grabbed Tea's wrist and dragged her along with him. "And you're coming with me."

Suwa leapt to his feet and attempted to pry Seto's forceful hand away from Tea, but the younger man shoved him away with a more dire warning, "She's my woman, Nagawaki. Stay away from her."

"Just because she's your woman doesn't mean you can force her into things she doesn't want to do!" Suwa argued.

"She wants to come with me," Seto retorted heatedly. Sharply, he turned to face and asked, "Is that right?"

Tea remained silent as she looked from one man to the other. Letting out a frustrated sigh, Seto let go of his grip and started to walk away.

"Seto…" Tea spoke out meekly.

"Get out of my life," Seto shot back coldly over his shoulder. "I don't need a woman in my life who doesn't trust me with her life, no matter what my feelings are for her."

Tea stepped forward to near him, but Seto held a hand out. "Don't bother. I don't need your sympathy or your guilt."

The moment Seto disappeared from her sight, Tea broke into tears. Suwa caught her before she crumpled to the floor and led her to a nearby chair. Fishing into his pocket, he held out a handkerchief, which Tea gratefully accepted. Suwa sat in the chair beside her and observed her quietly.

Tea glanced up at him. "I'm so sorry," she apologized through her sniffles. "I keep making you lend me your tissue or handkerchief."

"That's alright," Suwa assured her. He continued in a more hesitant tone, "Are things between you and Kaiba alright?"

"I … it's supposed to be," Tea answered after a while. "He already apologized, but …"

"You're not too sure whether to get back with him?" Suwa offered to complete her sentence.

"Y-yeah," Tea nodded.

Silence descended upon them for a moment. Suddenly Suwa got up and held his hand out, "Come on."

"Huh? Where are we going?"

Suwa smiled casually at her as he led her out of the balcony. "Just follow me."


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: hey guys! i'm terribly sorry my updates have been ridiculously slower than usual. my new school timetable doesn't exactly give me that much free time. sighs.**

**anyway, here's chapter 15! i'm really thankful that you guys faithfully wait out on this fic no matter how slow it's progressing. as for the progress in this chapter, i'm hoping you guys will like it. i feel so bad for Suwa. sighs. but i shall let you guys decide! keep the reviews coming yea!**

* * *

The blue coupe braked at the end of the road, and Suwa leapt out of it. Tea got out after him, and she moved to sit on the hood of the car beside him. The raven-haired man was glancing wistfully at the starry night sky. Uncertain what was so fascinating about the stars, Tea looked up anyway, and trained her eyes to form out a few constellations.

"They're pretty, aren't they?" Suwa suddenly made a comment.

Tea was slightly startled, but still managed to eke out a reply, "Yeah." She squinted hard at the sky. "I think I see Venus."

Suwa chuckled at her comment, sliding off from the hood. "And I see Mars looking so forlorn beside her," he joked. However, the humour in his voice gave way to a more serious-sounding tone. "Actually, I didn't bring you here just to talk about astronomy. I know nuts about it. But I just brought you here to take a look at the stars." He reverted to star-gazing again, but this time round, his index finger pointed out different sections of the vast sky. "Mum always tells me that the sky is like your heart. Huge, and empty, so you have to fill them up with meaningful things. Just like how the stars fill up the sky. But sometimes, some of these stars – or planets – seem to shine brighter than the rest for no apparent reason, and usually you'll find yourself feeling that these stars are special."

Tea considered his words carefully as her eyes trailed to where his finger was pointing. Sure enough, there was a smattering of exceptionally bright stars – and an untwinkling Venus, she was positive – in the small part of the sky_. If the sky is like my heart, and these stars represent the people in my life…_ Tea bit her lip.

"Isn't there any way to douse out its brightness?" she asked quietly, almost bitterly.

"It's beyond your control, Ti," Suwa murmured back. He turned on his heels to get back into his car. "So, have you come to your decision? Are you just going to let that one star burn itself away for nothing?"

The brunette let out an exasperated sigh as she marched back to her seat. "Suwa, please. I can't accept you just like that."

"Who said it's about me?" he shot back sharply, shutting Tea up. He turned the key in the ignition and revved the engine up. "I'm just here to make sure you're making the right decision. You don't want things between you and Kaiba to end, do you?"

"How do you –"

"I could see it in your eyes when he came by earlier," her Economics teacher/off-campus friend stated his observation in as kind a tone as possible. Tea kept her head down throughout the entire journey. Suwa threw a glance at her occasionally, but kept his blue eyes on the road. "You wanted to go with him, didn't you? So why didn't you?"

"Because …" Tea's voice trailed off. She hurriedly blinked back her tears. He was right, of course. But how could she even admit it to her heart after what Seto had done? She pressed her eyes shut. When Seto had grabbed her wrist and dragged her towards the door, all she wanted to do was give in and go away with him no matter where he was taking her. Yet the stubbornness in her prevailed and she had just let him leave. Inwardly, she frowned. Was it stubbornness or weakness?

The coupe came to an abrupt halt, and Tea glanced up. Her cerulean eyes widened when she realized where they were. Frantically turning to Suwa, she almost shouted, "What are we doing here?"

Suwa said nothing as he drove through the gates and killed off the engine at the front porch. "Get out," he ordered, pushing open his car door. He did not wait for Tea to push open hers on her own; rather he pulled her out. Tea tried hard not to stumble as she kept up with him.

"Why did you bring me here?" Tea asked him indignantly.

The black-haired man let out a short laugh. "Spare me the anger, please." He nodded to the butler who answered the door before striding in, with Tea flailing behind him, "Bedroom, I presume?"

The butler nodded. "Yes, sir."

"Thank you. Don't announce my arrival."

XO XO XO XO

Seto threw his coat and tie onto the floor in disgust. Sighing deeply in frustration, he raked his fingers wildly through his hair before flopping himself down onto his bed. _What was I thinking?_ He chastised himself mercilessly. _Grabbing her like that. Treating her as if she was just some object, and not a person._ He massaged his temple slightly. _She must be hurt… more hurt than before. No woman can take it well if some moron decides to impose possession on her in public._

_And I had to be that moron,_ he continued to commiserate as he got up, shrugging out of his clothes to get into the shower. He turned the tap on, and tested the water to ensure that it was at the fixed temperature. Once he was certain it was no more and no less than 36 degrees Celcius, he stepped into it and let the water cascade down his back. If only his problems could be washed away like the dirt on his body.

Once he was done, he shuffled out of the shower and found himself face to face with a mirror. Was that really him? Seto could not believe that the person staring back at him was really him: when did his face become so grim and lifeless? In stark contrast, where did the iciness and fire in his eyes disappear? Why did those same pair of azure blue eyes look so haunted?

_Why is my mistake punishing both her and me?_ Seto paved his way out of his bathroom and back into his room. He had some T-shirt and slacks lying somewhere in his room, he recalled. Just as he was about to bend over the chair to grab his white T-shirt, his bedroom door creaked behind him. Seto whirled and almost burst into a tirade of profanity. Who wouldn't be if someone walked in on you when you were in nothing but a towel?

"How the fuck did you get up here, Nagawaki?" Seto snarled.

"Good evening, Kaiba," Suwa greeted him warmly as he stepped in uninvited. However, he remained at the doorframe. "I've been here a couple of times, and your butler knows me already. And oh, I'm polite."

"I'm applaud your demonstrated politeness to my employees," Seto added on, the venom of sarcasm dripping from his voice. "But why are you here?"

"I.. uhh…" Suwa's clear blue eyes darted to the towel that hung loosely from his counterpart's waist. "How about you get dressed properly first?"

"Last time I checked you still go for girls even though it's my woman, so I consider myself safe," Seto snorted. "And besides, this is my house. And you're an uninvited and unwelcome guest in my bedroom!"

Suwa rolled his eyes. "I didn't come here to dawdle and have chat with you over some cognac. I came here to return what's yours." He reached an arm out to something from outside the room and yanked his arm back in. Tea came stumbling into the room, but she made it a point to keep her gaze glued to the parquet floor. She had heard the entire exchange between the two men earlier.

"Nagawaki, you - !" Seto scrambled to put on the T-shirt and rummage for his slacks at the same time.

"I did tell you to get dressed properly first," it was Suwa's turn to snort at the blue-eyed brunette. However, he strategically placed himself in front of Tea so Seto could put on his clothes. Once Seto was done, he inched away and gently shoved Tea forward.

"Suwa..."

"I know you two have problems, but whatever it is, get it over asap," Suwa ordered. "Kaiba, when I see you in class next week, make sure all these problems are ironed out."

Seto glared at him incredulously. "Class? What are you ta –"

The older man raised a hand and turned to talk to Tea, who was staring back at her teacher with a dumbfounded expression. "Tea, the same goes for you. But, if he ever tries to do anything to you –" He threw a sideway glance at Seto for good measure. "Call me and let me beat the crap out of him."

With that, he exited the room and closed the door with a loud bang, leaving Tea and Seto to stare at each other in mortification. Turning his back to his girlfriend, Seto draped his towel over his desk chair before awkwardly gesturing her to take a seat on his bed – which was about the only place without any form of dirty laundry. Tea gingerly took a seat. Regardless of whether it was a CEO's room, it was still a guy room, so it would not entirely be as clean as hers or other girls.

"I'm surprised he brought you here," Seto said as a form of official greeting.

"He probably should have called, though," Tea greeted back. She could feel her face heating up as she recalled the embarrassing scene earlier.

"So … what brings?" Despite the absence of a third party, the atmosphere was apparently relatively tense. Seto leaned on the back of his chair, looking on coolly at her.

Tea shrugged. "I didn't know he'd bring me here. I mean, we left his party and he brought me to a cliff to stargaze…"

"How sweet," came Seto's sarcastic reply.

She shot him a look to silence him. For some reason, it worked and Seto diverted his eyes from her as he allowed her to continue. "He told me something his mother always told him. About how the sky represents our hearts, and the stars and planets form the things in your life. And sometimes there are those exceptionally bright stars that signify special things – or people – in your life."

Seto grimaced. "So what do you think about what he said?"

"I … he meant it as a way for me to make my decision."

"And?" Seto asked pointedly. However, he still did not meet her gaze. "If …" He swallowed hard. "I'll accept whatever decision you'll take. I know I've hurt you so much."

"I don't want to hear any of this," Tea interjected, but Seto swept her words away.

"I know the one thing you'd probably want to do is kick me out of here, and out of your life," he continued. "I'm probably unforgivable. If you hate me, I understand. But Tea, I just …" His voice dropped to a barely audible whisper. "I just can't bring myself to let you go. I can't."

"Then how could you bring yourself to almost cheat on me?" Tea's voice rose a notch at the same time she stood up and attempted to glare at him. However, she found herself crying in front of him, even if that was the last thing she wanted to do. Even when she felt his hands holding her arms, she did not back away.

Suddenly, Tea felt his grip slacken down her arm, and she looked down. Seto was keeled in front of her, his face bowed down as his hands gripped her wrist tighter. "I'm sorry," He even sounded as if he was crying. "I'm sorry. I don't know what else I can do to make it up to you. But I'm sorry, Tea. I'm sorry."

Tea slowly lowered herself to be at the same level as he was. Gently prying her wrist away from his already slackened grip, she placed a hand each on either side of his face. His cheeks were wet – she guessed just about right.

_You moron,_ she scolded him silently. _You turn yourself into such a complex character, that sometimes your coldness overtakes your sensitive side completely. Or the other way round. And you have no idea about it all._

"Idiot," she muttered, cradling him close to her. "How can you call yourself a genius when you're such an idiot?"

Seto peered up to study her face. "Wha – Tea? Are you …"

"I'm willing to give you another chance," she said calmly. "But it's going to be your last chance." She locked eyes with him pleadingly. "Please, Seto. Don't screw it up. I can't take it anymore if you hurt me again."

"Never," Seto murmured, placing a kiss atop her forehead. "I swear upon you, upon Seth, upon my parents and Mokuba. I'll never hurt you like this again." He wrapped his arms tightly around her lithe frame, and rested his face on her shoulders. "I don't know what I'll do without you, Tea. I felt so lost, so lonely…"

"Me too, Seto," Tea murmured back, clutching him tighter. "It was just so horrible for me. There were so many times when all I wanted was you by my side and hold me, but I just can't …" She shut her eyes tightly, but it did nothing to stem her flowing tears. "Don't ever do this to me again, Seto. Promise me."

"I promise you," he reaffirmed before bending his head slightly to kiss her. "I promise that no matter what happens, I'll always be yours. Just as much as you're mine."

Tea smiled shyly at him. Then her eyes darted to her ring finger, and she asked sheepishly, "Uh, do you still happen to have the ring?"

Seto chuckled. "Yeah." He brushed the back of his hand gently across her cheek. "You can have that ring, and more. Whatever you want."

"That's nice to know," she commented. "But what I want right now is to have dinner with you."

"Let me call for dinner to be sent," he reached out to pick up his phone, but Tea stopped him.

She shook her head at him. "No, you don't get it. I want to have dinner with you. So that means, I want you to cook dinner."

"What?!"

"You heard me right. So can you please cook dinner for me?"

XO XO XO XO

Suwa slipped out from the corridor, properly closing the door behind him that had offered him a sliver of space to peek into the room from just now. Letting out a dry chuckle, he stuffed his hands down his pants as he slowly made his way down the stairs. Just as he was about to descend, he paused at the top of the stairway and turned back. His blue eyes rested on the study door.

_Anything to see you happy again, Tea,_ he thought, lowering his eyes to the ground. His hand tightened its grip on the railing. _But if he hurts you again, I swear …_

He shook his head defiantly and proceeded down the steps. _I'll always be here for you, Tea. Any chance that I can get, I'll try to win over your heart. Don't think that just because I handed you over to Kaiba, I'm letting him win that easily._


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: hey guys! it's one-week term break now, so that explains why i can sit down and type out this chapter! yes, school is a pain. but anw, talking about school, i know this reference guide is a bit too late, but in my country, grades in high school are calculated normally from A to F. U is ungraded, i.e. you get 20 marks or less. so that explains how Joey got his U. the system differs in elementary school and junior college, but i'll leave those two out.**

**anw, for some reason i let this chapter centre on my OCs with a Seto cameo in the beginning and towards the end. so in short, chapter 16 is something like, When Suwa Meets Caroline - and Seth. haha. i am so lame -_-"**

**alright, so off to chap 16 for you guys! keep the reviews coming!**

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Caroline pushed back her blond bangs as she peered at her handphone. There were a couple of messages, but like before, none of them came from the person she was waiting for. She thought she had made the right decision to pack up and disappear to Milan with Seth; now she was seriously doubting it.

She sank into the couch and spun her clamshell phone on the coffee table in frustration. How many days had she sat down or waited around for his message to come in? How many nights had she spent reassuring Seth that his father had not forgotten about him?

_If I had known things will end up like this, I wouldn't have told Seth about his father at all_, she fumed silently, getting up from the couch to head over to the bar counter. She selected a vintage 1968 champagne and poured herself half a shot. _Maybe I never should have told Seth about Seto. And maybe I should never have sat around waiting for him to come back to me._

She was so engrossed in her thoughts that she barely noticed her phone ringing. It was only when Seth waddled up to her with it did she realize where the music was coming from. She set her glass down and reached out to retrieve the phone. She mouthed a thank you to her son and gestured for him to leave before answering it.

"Caroline Lobo speaking," she spoke crisply into the phone.

"Carol? It's me."

She froze. Could it be …?

"Seto," she addressed him quietly. "I … Do you want to talk to Seth?"

"Later, but right now I want to speak to you," Apparently Seto was not having a difficult time talking to her. "Are you free now?"

"I suppose I can spare you an hour at most," Carol peered at her Solvil et Titus timepiece adorning her wrist. "I have a meeting to attend afterwards."

"This won't take long," he carried on as if he had not heard her. "I know we're just twenty, but I know that you can be mature about this matter as much as I can. I've made my decision, Carol." He paused for a second. "I'm sorry."

The ravishing blonde bit her lip to stop herself from crying. "I see. Thank you, Mr Kaiba."

"But I'll let Seth be under your custody. We can stick to the original court orders, or if you want some changes…"

"I understand," Carol spoke in a rush. "I'll have my lawyers prepare the necessary papers to reinforce the court decision."

"Car –"

"It was nice to hear from you, Mr Kaiba," Caroline disconnected the call. She held her phone close to her chest as she slumped against the bar counter. Calmly, she reached out to pour herself another half-shot of champagne. But the moment she brought the glass to her lips, she could barely bring herself to drink it as she resigned to her emotions and wept.

I shouldn't have told Seth about you… I never should have waited for you…

XO XO XO XO

Suwa yawned loudly, but promptly covered his mouth when his father shot him a look. The young director of NGK Bank grinned sheepishly before returning to the manuscripts balanced on his lap. He could sense his father peering at what he was marking, and Suwa let out a chuckle.

"You want to give this a try, Father?" Suwa teased without looking up from the script he was marking. He tilted his head slightly to make sense of a sentence, then underlined certain sections of it viciously in red. "I swear, I'm going to have to make these kids go for a 24-hour study camp to learn the essence of essay-writing. I mean, look at this: 'Yet by the government injecting government money into private banking sectors, they do not benefit from the money.' I have no idea what this fella is talking about."

Nagawaki Senior slinked back into his seat and adjusted his glasses. "I'm pretending I understand what being a teacher is all about," he commented. "But seriously, Suwa. Why are you hauling your work from Japan all the way to Milan? Shouldn't you be getting ready to be a bank director now?"

"Father, we're still in the limo, not at the meeting," Suwa muttered, tossing the ridiculous essay aside to start on another one. "So this means I retain every right to be a teacher." He caught his father's eye and sighed. He patted his father's shoulder lightly. "Don't worry, Father. I've done the preparations for this meeting with Lobo Industries. It's all in my head. And thumbdrive."

Nagawaki Senior shook his head in disbelief. "I don't get you young people nowadays. Back in my time, we never object to what our parents say. But you and your sister, especially…"

Suwa could not restrain his laughter. "I don't think that statement applies to you, Father, since more or less you uhh… eloped with Mother."

His father was about to fire off a smart retort, but the limousine pulled up and the driver announced that they had already arrived at the Lobo mansion. After thanking the driver, the two Nagawaki men exited from the limousine and were escorted into the mansion's entry hall by a friendly-looking (Suwa was about to add senile-looking, but his father quickly shushed him) butler.

"Nice home," Suwa commented, gazing around the hallway. His blue eyes could not conceal his admiration at how exquisite the cut of the crystals on the chandelier was. He figured that it was probably the work of one of the best crystal-cutters in Switzerland. It might have cost a bomb, but surely it was not an issue for the Lobos.

"Good evening, gentlemen," a dulcet voice floated down the stairs. Suwa looked up and bowed as a form of respect and greeting to the owner of the voice. She gave her guests a wan smile that lit up her face, never mind the fact that her blond locks accentuated her aura of happiness. She bowed back before heading down the steps. She extended a perfectly manicured hand to Suwa, who shook it rather loosely. "Mr Suwa Nagawaki, I presume?" She gestured to the older man beside him and shook his with him as well. "Then you must be Mr Fukuoka Nagawaki."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Caroline Lobo," Nagawaki Senior greeted back. "Your father and I were classmates once during high school, and I'm positive that you're just as respectable as he is."

Caroline laughed quietly as she ushered them into the living room. "I hope so," she commented. "Please, have a seat. Coffee is fine, I hope?" Suwa and his father nodded. Carol turned to her awaiting butler and issued a sharp order, "Fabian, get coffee for our guests. I'll just have spring water."

As her ageing butler scuttled off, Caroline took a seat across the men. At the same time, she pulled out a file from underneath the coffee table and slid it across to them. "I can't express how thankful I am that NGK is willing to inject funds into my company's project. Surely, the bank is affected by the current crisis, no?"

Suwa threw her an easygoing grin. "NGK Bank is one of the most unaffected banks in Japan. Besides, even if we are, we'll be able to pull through. Lobo Industries is holding out pretty well also, isn't it? But regardless, we're interested in the infocomm centre project that your company's working on. After all, NGK is more than just a bank."

Caroline had to smile at his words. "I perfectly understand that," she said, gesturing at the file. "The social benefit that's derived from this project matters a lot to a bank which is a leading foundation in Japan as well. I've prepared the documents, so you might want to peruse it and ensure that all the terms are fair. Should there be any changes, please do inform me and I'll adjust them appropriately."

The drinks came, and each of them promptly took a sip of their beverages. Suwa set his coffee down and observed the blonde in front of him carefully. "You're a really pleasant person to work with," he mused. "I look forward to having more joint projects with your company."

She blushed, but took the compliment rather well. "Thank you. I pride myself in my work, and making sure that Lobo Industries is always at the top."

"Maybe that explains why it's one of the most unaffected companies in Japan as well," Nagawaki Senior interjected. "The other should be Kaiba Corporation, isn't that right?"

Suwa felt that Caroline's face fell at the mention of the technology giant, but perhaps it was just his imagination. Caroline sounded calm as she said, "Yes. KaibaCorp is perhaps the only company unaffected by the crisis. For some reason, they managed to spread out their investments so that they are at low-risk."

"Well, with a fine young man like Seto Kaiba at the helm, that shouldn't come as a surprise," Nagawaki Senior commented. Again, Suwa noticed how Caroline winced at the mention of his student's name. "Come to think of it, why didn't you involve them in this project of yours? I know Seto Kaiba's character come across as quite ruthless, but usually he's open to suggestions, especially if it involves technology."

"Well… " Caroline seemed desperate to change the subject. Something caught her eye and she immediately took the opportunity. "Oh, before I forget, I'd like you to meet my son, Seth Ka – Seth Lobo."

The two Nagawaki men turned around to find an adorable four-year-old blond peering up shyly at them. Even as Suwa knelt down to high-five with the little boy, he could not help noticing that the boy's features seemed so familiar; in fact, the only trait he possessed from his mother was her blonde hair.

"Heya," Suwa greeted. "My name's Suwa. What's yours?"

The blond boy grinned back. "My name is Seth. Mummy said I'm named after Daddy."

"Really? What's his name?"

"Mummy said his name is Set –"

"That's enough, honey," Caroline interjected, lifting her son up. "Weren't you supposed to go bathe? What time is it already?" She called out for one of her servants, who promptly appeared. Caroline passed Seth over to her.

"Byebye Suwa!" Seth called out as he was taken away to the bathroom. He waved happily at the guests. "Byebye Grandpa!"

Caroline sighed before turning back to face the men. "I'm so sorry," she apologized with a faint smile. "Seth is just like that. Noisy and playful, but it's just so hard not to be amused by him."

Suwa laughed. "I can see that. He's a very handsome boy. But I noticed he doesn't take after you..?"

Caroline pursed her lips as she considered her answer. "He takes after my blonde hair," she replied bluntly. "I wish he takes after me more, so he doesn't have to remind me of his father."

"I'm sorry," Suwa apologized. "I didn't know you're divorced from your husband."

"I'm not married," Caroline stated matter-of-factly. "That's why Seth has my family name." She glared at the raven-haired man, but quickly averted her gaze when her eyes landed on a pair of blue eyes. "I trust you with this confidential information since we'll be working together."

"Your personal life has nothing to do with whatever we're working on, Miss Lobo," Suwa reassured her. "Everyone's entitled to lead their lives however they want to."

The blonde flashed him an appreciative smile. "Thank you, Mr Nagawaki. I'm positive my trust won't be misplaced."

Suwa grinned back. "Not a problem. And oh, one more thing?"

"Yes?"

Suwa leaned in and whispered into her ear, "Please, when we're not discussing office matters, drop the formality… Caroline."

XO XO XO XO

Seto stared at his handphone again for the umpteenth time in two hours. He was slightly taken aback when Caroline hung up on him earlier. He had attempted to contact her again afterwards. But each time, his calls were diverted to her voice mailbox. After the sixth try, Seto mustered all the patience he possessed and left a message for her.

"Carol, stop avoiding me," for some reason, even in his frustration, he could not seem to bring himself to sound cold towards her in his message. "I know this is hard for you. This isn't easy for me too, but I've made my choice. I'm not going to ruin the second chance that Tea gave me. Listen, when you get my message, please call me back." He had paused for a few seconds before adding on in a quieter voice, "I don't completely understand, but maybe I still care for you. Like how a… friend probably should. I'll wait for your call. And make sure you call."

He glanced at the digital clock on his desk. Letting out a loud, frustrated sigh, he dialed a number on his desk phone. "Misa? Get Caroline Lobo's location traced. Once that's done, prepare my jet. Set it on course to wherever she is."


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: hello! another chappie up before i revert to the crazy school timetable next week. yes, people. my precious one week school break will be over very soon (and i'm dreading it because junior college is uber-tiring).**

**oh yes, before i forget! i shall address several queries from some of the readers!**

**drkmagiciangrl25 - thanks for pointing out the slip! it should be 19 instead of 20, and Tea, Yugi, Joey and Tristan are 18 (since Seto debuted at age 16 while the rest were 15 although they're in the same class). initially i thought of making Seto no longer schooling (since senior high isn't mandatory in Japan) but it's more fun adding student to his resume.**

**MythCreatorWriter - i guess i get all the info about business from reading the papers and watching TV. and economics do help in a way.. haha! otherwise i have absolutely no clue how to run a business.**

**okay, so off to chap 17 for you all! usually i prefer a less dialouge-abundant style of writing, but somehow it made the story flow easier here. hope you all enjoy it, and keep the reviews coming!**

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The beep coming from her handphone signaled that a new message had just came in. Sighing, she stretched her frame across the table to reach out for her bag. Without looking up, Joey grabbed it and tossed it right onto her face. Tea let out a yelp.

"Joey!" she scowled at the same time she rummaged through her bag.

"What?" her blond friend shot back indignantly, swatting away the pizza crumbs that littered the kitchen table. "It just hit your face, Ti. No bones broken."

"Or maybe I should break your bones," Tea muttered, scrolling through the message. Her demeanour gave way from a crossed frown to a disappointed frown. "Oh."

"What else did that moron do this time?" Joey leaned over the table, trying hard to peek at Tea's handphone screen. His eyes scanned the contents of the message upside-down, then let out a loud snort. " 'I'm heading over to Milan to meet Caroline. We need to discuss about Seth. I'll be back ASAP.' Tell me, Ti. Are you still going to believe him just like that?"

Tea locked her keypad and slipped her handphone back into her bag wordlessly. What was she supposed to say? If she admitted that she was not one hundred percent certain that nothing would happen in Milan between the two CEOs, she would be subjected to Joey's loud rubbishing of her belief. If she stated otherwise, she would be lying to herself. Perhaps her decision to remain silent on the matter was the best way out.

That, and a distraction. Tea threw the bag back at Joey, who caught it and plonked it back onto the stool beside him. "How I wish that bag would've smashed your face," Tea spoke with fake disappointment. "It'll be nice to see some broken bones."

Joey's hand immediately flew to his nose bridge and he shook his head furiously. "My nose? You want to botch my nose? It's my asset!"

"All the more I should," Tea attempted hard to inject sincere humour in her voice. "Come, let me break it!"

"No!"

"Let me break it!"

"No!"

XO XO XO XO

The butler escorted him into the living room, although there was really no need to; Seto still knew the floor plan of the Lobo's Milan mansion like the back of his hand. The new engine developed by his engineers had his jet operating at twice the speed, and effectively it cut the time required for him to dash over to Italy.

Apparently, he walked into a dinner scene, and Caroline did not seem to be alone. His tall frame cut quite a figure at the entrance of the dining hall – in any case, his presence cast an ominous cloud over the dining crowd.

Caroline rose from her seat almost unsurely. "Seto," she greeted him warily. Her butler pulled out a chair and she duly gestured for him to join them for dinner. "Please, have a seat. I … I didn't know … how did you know I was here?"

Seto snorted. "Carol, I own the top technology company in Japan. What sort of question is that?" His azure eyes narrowed at the sight of a raven-haired man seated beside her. "What's he doing here?"

It was an elderly man who was part of Caroline's dining companions that answered him. "Ah, Mr Kaiba. What a surprise! We were just discussing why Miss Lobo did not engage you to join us in her infocomm centre project."

"You have an infocomm centre project?" Seto raised an eyebrow in her direction, waving off the butler after he placed Seto's dinner in front of him.

"I … yeah," Caroline replied nervously. She had her gaze fixed on her tortellini, but she appeared to have decided to stop eating.

"Interesting," her ex-fiancé sarcasm was unmistakable.

Suwa interjected with a hearty, "So Kaiba! I didn't know you know Miss Lobo on such a personal level!" At Seto's glare, he hastily added on, "I just assume that, since you two address each other on a first name basis. Don't have to go all lion and roar at me."

From the way Seto stabbed his tortellini, it was evident roaring at Suwa was far from his mind; killing him was more probable. However, Seto maintained his eerie silence as he tried his best to look as if he was enjoying his dinner. The tortellini was authentically Italian, so there was no doubting its taste. It was just that the dinner company threw any sort of deliciousness out of the window.

"How long have you two known each other?" Suwa pressed on.

"A while," Seto retorted icily. "You don't need to know precisely how long." He peered at the watch adorning Caroline's wrist. Turning his face close to her, he muttered, "I want a word with you." To the other two gentlemen, he raised his glass slightly. "It was a pleasant dinner with you Nagawakis. Nice to see you again, Mr Fukuouka Nagawaki." He shot Suwa his most despicable look. "You can dream on about seeing me in class."

Caroline excused herself to see Seto off, but in reality, it was he who dragged her into the first floor study room and locked it. For some reason, he was fuming mad. "What the hell was Nagawaki doing here in your house?" he asked in a low, threatening voice.

"NGK's a partner in the infocomm project," Caroline answered quietly. "We were discussing the infrastructure when you crashed the dinner."

"Crashed the dinner?" he echoed incredulously. Without warning, he grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her towards him, forcing her to look him in the eye. "Why didn't you answer my call?"

"I told you, I was in a meeting! And let go! You're hurting me."

Seto promptly released his grip and stepped back to lean against the door. "I didn't mean to," he said reluctantly. "So have you thought it over? Any terms you want to change?"

It took a while for Caroline to realize what he was talking about. She shook her head as she replied, "I don't think so. But …what if I'm planning to stay on in Milan?"

"You're staying in Domino City."

"But …"

"I said, you're staying in Domino City. I'm imposing this on you for Seth's good." Seto turned on his heels to leave.

But he stopped dead in his tracks when she cried out, "Who do you think you are to decide my life like that? You're not my dad, not my brother, not my boyfriend, not my husband! I'm not even your sex friend, if you think that's how low I am! So who gave you the rights to determine my life?"

Seto whirled around, enraged. "I have the rights to because you are the mother of my son! And one more thing, I'm not that evil to treat you as … something as low as that! It's not as if every time I'm down I let it all out on you! We've only slept together once!"

A sharp slap landed on his cheek. Caroline was half-crying as she screamed at him, "After we did it for the first time, we did it for a week, you jerk! Is that your idea of once? And then you left me without a word!"

"That was four years ago, Carol! Stop bringing it up!"

"And it's precisely because of that I had Seth," she spat. But almost instantly, she regretted her outburst. Even in the heated situation, Seto knew that she never regretted having their son. It was not the appearance of Seth that nearly drove her to insanity; it was the fact that he left her just like that despite comforting her with all his promises.

"I know I was a jerk, Carol," he started. "But that's in the past."

"I know," Caroline muttered, pushing her blond hair out of her face. "You can leave now. I'll prepare the papers and have my operations re-transferred to Domino. If you want to see Seth, he's upstairs."

"Carol, are you sure you're … alright?"

"I'm fine," she replied almost scathingly. "It's just … sometimes I'm still so mad at you. But stop apologizing and get out, Seto. Let me get things back in perspective and recheck into reality."

Before he stepped out of the door, Seto afforded to cast Caroline a faint smile. "You've matured pretty quick in your thinking in such a short time. I'm glad."

"I'm just reverting back to being the ruthless CEO" was her simple answer.

XO XO XO XO

Seto was just about to step out of the front door when he paused. He shook his head and scoffed over his shoulder, "Next time you want to spring a surprise attack on me, learn how to do it properly."

The person he was directing his words at stepped out from the shadows underneath the stairway and sauntered towards him. Seto stiffened as Suwa paused beside him. Without bothering to look at Seto, Suwa said casually, "Next time you want to have a kid with another woman, you should tell your girlfriend first."

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Although he understood pretty well what Suwa was implying, he feigned ignorance as he brusquely strode out of the door.

Suwa was not letting him go that easily. "Seth's your son, isn't he?"

"So what? Jealous that there's no way in hell your offspring's gonna look as good and be as smart as mine?"

Suwa snorted. "I'd rather he be plain and boring rather than to look and act like an ass like you."

This time, Seto did lose his patience. Without warning, he retreated and grabbed Suwa by the collar. He glared at his raven-haired teacher and hissed, "Take back what you said about my son!"

"So you admitted it," Suwa replied calmly, prying Seto's hand away from the collar. Unfortunately, his student was far too enraged to comply. "Tell me, Kaiba. How old is your son?"

"If you're such a know-it-all, why don't you tell me?" Seto shot back, his entire frame convulsing with anger and the pressing urge to punch the guy in front of him senseless. However, he did release his hands, causing Suwa to reel backwards slightly.

As usual, Suwa seemed unaffected by it all. Rather, he straightened his suit and buttoned his cuffs as he mused, "I'd say he's around three or four? And you're just how old now, twenty?" Suwa's demeanour grew serious as he regarded Seto coldly, "Do you know what I can do to you?"

"Humour me."

"I can add another court case to your resume. But this time it's not just another trivial custody case. I wonder, how could the court overlook this matter?" Something lit up in Suwa's head, and he regarded Seto with a disgusted look. "You went to the international court."

"Privilege of money," Seto smirked. "Now get the hell out of my way. I have an actual business to run which involves me coming up with projects rather than counting and spending money."

This time round, Suwa did not object. As Seto hurried towards his limousine, his expression hardened. I've had enough to deal with that asshole, he thought contritely as he stormed into the backseat. I've been off the scene far too long.

He pulled out his Arte from his coat and pressed a frequently dialed number. "Roland, get the board of directors. I want an urgent meeting."

"But Mr Kaiba, you're overseas currently," came Roland's rather unnecessary interjection.

"I know that! I'm flying back to Domino now. When I come back, I want all those baboons seated in the conference room. Threaten that I'll buy up all their shares and kick them out of the company if they refuse."

Without waiting for an affirmation, Seto hung up and dialed another number.

"Hello?"

"Tea," he spoke as gently as he could, hiding well the fact that the mood he was in now was anything but pleasant. "It's me."

"Seto! Where … are you back in Domino?"

"Not yet. I'm still in Milan," Seto peered out of his limousine's window to see that the vehicle was heading in the right direction. "But I'm flying back soon. The issue about Seth went well, but I have something else on my hands now."

"I see," came Tea's disappointed remark.

"I might not be able to see you for quite some time although I'm in Domino. I just thought I should tell you beforehand."

"I see," Tea remarked. "Oh yes, before I forget, it's exams next week."

"Least of my concern," Seto dismissed the new piece of information quickly. "Listen, I have to go. Take care of yourself."

"Seto …"

"What?"

A sigh came from Tea's end. "It's nothing. I love you."

"Yeah."

XO XO XO XO

Joey peered at her expectantly. Tea gave him a shrug and a weak smile as she placed her handphone back onto the table and got back to her assignment. Joey snorted and shook his head. "I told you not to trust that jerk," he commented.

"I think he's just busy," Tea defended her fiancé albeit half-heartedly.

"Always the busy CEO, isn't he? Forever with everything and everyone else in this world except the person he claimed he loves."

Tea showed no indication how much his words hurt.


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: hey guys! this is gonna be a pretty short chapter. some sort of a filler, i guess, until i jump back into the main storyline. so yeah, chap 17 ended off with Seto sounding like a jerk - again - and Tea being unsure of what to believe. chap 18 is just basically about the couple, and a cameo by Mokuba! i miss having that little kid in my story, so yes, i brought him back!**

**okay, i shall leave you guys with chap 18! hope you enjoy it, and keep on with the reviews!**

**[and also, song used here is 100 Mankai no Kiss by GLAY]**

* * *

Tea hesitated, but eventually braved herself to press the doorbell at the gate of the Kaiba residence. With bated breath, she waited outside the wrought-iron gate for the security people to clear her. Once she was given the all-clear (despite being the employer's girlfriend, she was not exempted from security clearance if she was on her own), Tea scurried into the compound. She clutched the manila envelope more tightly as she neared the porch. Before she could even ring the doorbell to the main house, the front door was pulled open to reveal an anxious Mokuba.

"Big Bro – " he started, before faltering upon discovering it was Tea at the doorstep. Nevertheless, he flashed her his biggest smile. "Oh, hi Tea! What brings you here all of a sudden?"

Tea peered around the house as she followed Mokuba inside. Almost the entire house was in shadows. "Your Big Brother's not back yet?" she asked kindly.

"Yeah," Mokuba answered with a resigned sigh. "I don't know when he'll be back, though. He hasn't been home for nearly two weeks."

Tea spluttered, "T-two weeks? Where did he go?"

The black-haired boy shrugged as he gestured her to sit on the couch. Nana had already laid out drinks and cookies on the coffee table. "Just his office," Mokuba bit into a cookie as he spoke. "I don't know what he's up to, but he hasn't left his office ever since he came back from Milan." He gazed at her beseechingly. "Did something happen to Big Brother?"

The brunette found herself unsure what to reply. Instead, she merely shook her head and said, "I'm not too sure myself. But he did say that the matter regarding Seth was settled, and that he's working on something. I'm assuming it's a project, though."

"Should be," Mokuba muttered. "I haven't seen Seto so busy since KaibaLand. He worked really hard on that. There was once he went a week without sleep, I think." Suddenly his eyes darted towards the manila envelope in Tea's hands. "Oh ya, what's that?"

It took Tea a while to register what Mokuba was referring to. She held up the manila envelope and looked at the younger boy quizzically. "This? Oh, it's just some documents from the school. I think there's a letter in it regarding his absence from the exams."

To her surprise, Mokuba snorted at her words. He waved his hand dismissively. "Seto already has a degree, he doesn't need to sit for entrance exams."

"Huh?"

"He didn't tell you?" Mokuba seemed excited by the fact that he knew something about his brother that Tea did not know. He bent over to pull out the drawer of the coffee table and pulled out a file. He sifted through some of the papers before taking out a photocopied certificate to show Tea. "See? He already got his from Harvard!"

What he said was true; Tea's eyebrow shot up as she read her boyfriend's qualifications from the Harvard Business School. Half-stunned, she returned the copy to his brother. "Interesting," she commented. "He could have at least ... told the school."

Mokuba made a face. "And make everyone feel more inferior to him than they already are? Nah."

That's true, Tea admitted silently to herself. Nevertheless, she left the envelope on the coffee table as she stood up and stretched. Mokuba raised an eyebrow as he queried, "Leaving already?"

"I actually just came over to pass Seto the school documents," she admitted sheepishly. "But since he's not here, I guess I should head back and get some shut-eye. You look beat too."

Mokuba cracked a smile. "Yeah," he confessed, raking his hand through his hair. "Tanaka's really intensive. Maybe that's why Seto went to Domino High."

Tea laughed. Just as she was about to turn around and head for the front door, strong arms encircled her from behind. She froze and threw a look at a wide-eyed Mokuba standing across her.

"I'm so glad to see you," a familiar voice murmured into her ear before releasing the hold on her. The arms were outstretched, but this time to hug another person: Mokuba. "I'm glad you're coping in my absence, Mokuba."

The two brothers pulled back, but Mokuba tugged at his brother's hand and peered up worriedly at Seto. "Big Brother? Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Seto answered softly. He took Tea's hand with his free hand and led both his girlfriend and his brother to the couch. The moment Tea sat down, Seto flopped himself on the couch and rested his head on her lap. He managed to eke out a murmur, "I'm sorry… I'm just so tired." Still, he managed to muster enough energy to ruffle Mokuba's hair. "I'm just tired, Mokuba. Don't look so stricken."

Apparently, his words were of no comfort to his little brother. Mokuba frowned at him and fired off his questions, "Did you eat, Seto? As in, had at least one proper meal a day that doesn't just consist of coffee."

"Yes" came the weak reply.

"Did you sleep?"

"I .. yes.."

"Don't lie," Mokuba sounded really cross as he glared at Seto for good measure.

His older brother sighed before amending his answer, "Do naps count?"

Mokuba looked as if he was about to launch into a lecture, but Tea held a hand up signaling him to pause. "I think we should let your brother sleep first, Mokuba. Come on, let's help you up to your room."

"No, just stay here," Seto objected. His eyelids fluttered shut slowly as he spoke. "I haven't seen you for a long time. Don't just chuck me in my bedroom and go home."

Tea half-smiled as she stroked his hair gently. "You could have just said, don't leave me," she commented on the way he expressed his feelings. She bent down to kiss his forehead lightly. "It's okay. I'll stay. Now get some sleep, alright?"

Maybe it was just wistful thinking on her part, but Tea could swear she saw the faintest trace of a smile flitting through Seto's face. No sooner could she confirm it, he was already knocked out fast asleep. Amidst that, Tea found herself smiling as she studied her fiancé's face. As usual, Seto only seemed to look harmless when he was asleep.

She felt a light tap on her shoulder. Tea looked up. Mokuba was signaling to her that he was headed upstairs. Tea nodded to indicate she understood and gave Mokuba a little goodbye wave. Once Mokuba was safely on the second floor of the mansion, Tea diverted her attention back her fiancé's sleeping figure.

What have you been up to, you crazy workaholic? Tea wondered to herself as she ran her fingers through his brown hair lightly. You look so fatigued. When would you ever learn to take things slow? She kissed him softly on his cheek; Seto barely stirred, a sign he was knocked out cold.

Tea bit back her laughter. Somehow, the idea of Seto crashing out due to overwork seemed funny; 'overwork' usually meant normal mundane everyday work for Seto who tend to swat it away almost effortlessly. Or maybe Seto got everyone into thinking he's some superhuman after all, her musings sounded more like a lament. But the fact is, he's not. She brushed her fingers against his smooth cheek. The fact is, he's just human. And that's precisely why I love this moron.

She shifted her position slightly so she was able to rest her head on his chest. She was just about to close her eyes when she found herself staring into a pair of azure eyes. Tea was slightly startled, but she did not lift her head. "I thought you're asleep," she commented simply.

"I thought I was too," came his quiet response.

Tea smiled before straightening herself. She pushed her brown hair out of her face. "You know, suddenly there's this song running in my head."

Normally, Seto would have rolled his eyes at her remark. However, this time round, he looked as if he was genuinely interested in what she was saying. Nevertheless, his tone was pretty much contrite, "Really?"

"Yeah!" Tea nodded fervently. She cradled Seto's face close to her. "I know my voice isn't the best, but let me demo it for you."

"Even if you break or shatter anything in this house, I can cover the cost," Seto responded. Tea shot him a look before starting the song with a soft voice:

_Since long ago, people have told each other their feelings _

_and their love without relying on words  
Our worry as we live these days is that _

_there's so much information that it throws us  
It's surely no coincidence that we've wound up together  
In a little boat in the sea that is this city_

This kiss isn't just to tell you about my love  
Your pain and your loneliness and everything touches my lips  
It's definitely not comfortable living like this  
When it's over, let's kiss tenderly,

_a kiss that seems to colour us_

At some point reality tore my dreams apart,

_and I stopped saying anything, _

_thinking there was nothing I could do  
I'm wearing even more of a mask  
Than the superheroes I watched as a kid  
It doesn't have to be now, no need to hurry_

_An unspoken tenderness, see, is making my heart tighten__love  
Your pain and your loneliness and everything touches my lips  
It's definitely not comfortable living like this  
When it's over, let's kiss tenderly, _

This kiss isn't just to feel love  
You tell me, this stupid guy, your happiness and your sadness  
Sometimes I hurt you  
But I want you to give me this unchanging love

I don't believe in eternity  
Let's spend our lives counting our million kisses

This kiss isn't just to tell you about my

_a kiss that seems to colour us  
Let's kiss tenderly_

By the time Tea finished the song, Seto's eyelids had already fluttered shut. Initially, Tea thought that he had fallen asleep again, but he suddenly murmured, "You can't sing, you know that?" Before she could fire some equally scathing rejoinder, he quickly added, "But the song's not that bad. The stupid guy's me, isn't it?"

"You think?"

Seto sighed. "I'm tired. I want to sleep."

Tea had to laugh at how childish he suddenly sounded. "Are you sure you're Seto Kaiba?" she asked in mock horror. "Whatever happened to my fiancé?"

"Your fiancé is here, and he's tired," Seto grumbled, getting off her lap and standing up. He plucked his coat off the chair opposite him and started to trudge up the stairs. Sensing that Tea was still seated, he glanced over his shoulder. "Come on. Sing me that song again. Since no glass shattered, it's fine."

"You just said I can't sing," Tea said through gritted teeth.

Seto shot her a smirk. "I never said I didn't like it."


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: hello guys! first things first, i miss all of you!! seriously. i'm so sorry this chapter took aeons to be completed and uploaded (and even now it's not even as much as i intended it to be). school has been seriously hectic, and i'd be lucky to be able to insert at least a line every day.**

**anw, i shan't waste your time and let you get on with chapter 19! it's not my best (-RAWRS school!!-) but i hope you guys will still enjoy it nevertheless. don't forget to review!**

* * *

Seto neared the dining table as he adjusted the cuffs of his shirt's sleeves, managing to pull out a chair and take a seat at the same time. Tea stopped spreading peanut butter on her toast and was about to get up to assist him, but Seto had already taken care of his clothes. Again, he adjusted another aspect of his attire – his tie, this time round – as he reached out for his coffee. He caught her looking at him, and he smirked as he said, "Too captivated by my efficiency?"

Tea blushed. How did he know what was running through her mind? She shrugged as she took a sip of her orange juice. "It is kind of amazing," she admitted. "I don't think I'll be able to do it as well as you."

Apparently, the both of them forgot about someone else's presence at the dining table, and he cleared his throat loudly. Mokuba set his cereal spoon down and eyed his brother and Tea suspiciously, "Please tell me it's not what I think it is. Please tell me Tea stayed in the guest room and you stayed in yours."

At his words, Seto frowned at him. "Where did you get such ideas? We were discussing about my current multi-tasking." At the same time, he flicked his finger at Mokuba's school uniform. "Did you send your uniform for ironing last night? Because it doesn't look like it is."

Mokuba shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "I sort of crumpled it after that. I just put it on my bed and fell asleep atop it."

"Don't let Nana hear you say that," Seto muttered, shifting his attention to the morning papers. He brought his cup of coffee to his lips as he scanned the headlines, a frown slowly forming as he read them. "Oh, fu – fish."

Tea nearly choked on her juice hearing such a lame word coming out from her fiancé. Instead of cursing, he said fish? Then she remembered that Mokuba was there at the table too, and understood perfectly why. For some reason, she could not help but feel proud of Seto for this. Then it occurred to her that something bad must have been in the papers for Seto to react like that.

She wanted to reach out and touch his hand, but instead she settled for simply asking across the table, "Seto? What's wrong?"

His jaw was already set in a grim line, and he was getting up to leave. "Mokuba, don't eat too slow. I don't want you to be late for school again." He glanced at his fiancée for a while. "Sorry, office call."

Tea shook her head. "It's okay," she replied. Seto's mouth twitched quickly into a small smile before he bent down to brush his lips against her forehead. With a pat on Mokuba's shoulders, he was off and out of the Kaiba mansion.

As Mokuba continued with his Oreo O's, Tea dragged the newspaper closer to her. Her curiosity was nagging her too much to be left ignored. Her cerulean eyes landed on the front page: "KaibaCorp to launch KC Teleinfocomm Portal?" She frowned. Shouldn't this be a good thing? She wondered before proceeding to read the actual article.

_Recent reports surfaced stating that Domino City's top technology company, Kaiba Corporation, would be launching a rival to Lobo-NGK Infocomm Centre (IC) project in the form of KC Teleinfocomm Portal (TP). If this is true, this will be the first time that KC will delve into telecommunications and infocomm jointly, and this is expected to pose a huge challenge to Lobo-NGK IC. The slated date for launching of KCTP suggests that it was an outward response to the IC, with the latter to be opened a week prior._

"_This is absolutely ridiculous," an executive at IC who declined to be named said. "KaibaCorp is just afraid that we'll steal clients away from them, so they have to come up with a similar project at the same time."_

_Sentiments of the other members of IC were unsurprisingly similar. Some of them even condemned KaibaCorp for being too "bent on technology monopoly" and not allowing space for comparatively smaller companies to "try fishing in the sea"._

_This was despite Kaiba Corporation having not yet confirmed the accuracy of these reports. Official spokespersons for the technology giant refused to comment on the matter, stating that its CEO, Seto Kaiba, would inform the press appropriately if KCTP was ever to be launched. They also stated that Kaiba Corporation had no reason to compete with Lobo Industries, and instead pleased to see that more companies were jumping on the technology bandwagon._

Tea set the paper back on the table and glanced at Mokuba questioningly. "Mokuba, is your brother onto a secret project?"

The long-haired boy fidgeted in his seat. "Actually, it's supposed to be a top secret," he confessed. "Seto just told me about it yesterday. In a sense, we are challenging Lobo-NGK IC." He studied Tea's face curiously. "Why do you ask?"

In reply to his question, Tea slid the newspaper over to him. Sighing, Mokuba forced himself to unfold it and read the front page. His eyes widened upon reading the report that had enraged his brother and gave rise to curiosity in Tea. Mokuba groaned, "Crap." He lifted his eyes to meet Tea and realized he needed to explain it to her. "Seto was hell-bent on making sure this project doesn't leak out. In fact, he had already started on this project long before Lobo and NGK wanted to launch theirs. It's just that he sort of delayed it, until recently."

"So that means for the past two weeks he was cooped up in his office, he slogged his way through to complete it?" Tea sounded mortified. At Mokuba's nod, she shook her head furiously. "I don't know what to say. I seriously think Seto should ease off a little. At the rate he's going, he's going to fall sick again."

"Yeah, I'm worried that his blood pressure'll shoot up again," apparently, Mokuba shared the same sentiments. "I keep telling Seto that he needs to rest. But you know him…"

"The most stubborn person on the planet," Tea completed softly. "The more you try to stop him, the more adamant he is." She glanced over to the younger boy. "So… what do you think he's gonna do at the office now since he's seriously pissed?"

"It's Seto," Mokuba offered the most obvious answer. "What do you think he's going to do when he's pissed?"

XO XO XO XO

His executives stood rigidly as they stared down at their shoes, as if their eyes could laser out a hole into some outer space region for them to disappear to. Seated before them with an unmistakable frown on his face was their young, fearsome employer. To be honest, he had not shouted at them yet; they were just preparing for it.

"Which one of you leaked the news?" Seto asked with an eerily calm tone. Neither of those being question spoke. Seto banged his hands against his desk as he pushed himself off his leather seat. "WHO LEAKED THE NEWS?!"

"We don't know, Mr Kaiba, sir!" came the rapt reply.

Seto glared at them in disgust. Whatever had he done to get such incompetent employees? Resisting the urge to hurl vulgarities at them, he commanded in a menacing voice, "I don't give a damn how you people do it, but I want you all to find out who leaked the news." Sensing his employees' hesitancy, he raised his voice again, "Hurry or I'll make sure not only do I end your job here, I'll end your career for life!"

Without wasting another second, his executives scrambled out of his office. Letting out a huge sigh, Seto pressed his hands to his temples. Just when he thought everything in his life was falling back in place, another storm came along. He pulled out his drawer and shook out two aspirin tablets from a bottle. As much as he did not like it, he seemed to have an increasing dependency on over-the-counter medications. Or perhaps it was all due to the various aspects in his life that had been eating at him all this while.

He pushed the awaiting reports away from his sight to a far corner of his desk and pulled out his handphone. All these past days he had practically locked himself up in his office, he barely had time to think about the people in his life. Of course, Tea was important, and definitely Mokuba. But there was someone else in his life he knew he would lay down his life for.

"Caroline?" he spoke calmly into his handphone.

"Oh, Seto!" came her rather surprised answer on the other end of the receiver. "I.. uhh.. is something the matter?"

"Have you read the news?"

"Yeah. Is it.. true? You're launching KCTP at about the same time as ours?"

Seto hesitated for a while before scoffing, "That's confidential. You really think I'd tell you anything?"

"What do you want, actually?" Caroline was starting to sound cross as well; Seto could almost picture her scowling.

"I want to talk to Seth," Seto found himself surprised at how soft he suddenly sounded. He quickly cleared his throat before speaking again. "Have you settled the court papers?"

"I haven't had the time, but I'll pass the phone over to him now." Caroline paused. "Seto…"

"What?"

"I … never mind. Let me get Seth for you." Seto resisted the urge to snort at her words and instead waited impatiently for his son to be on the other end of the receiver. The moment he heard Seth's clear voice ringing through, Seto hurriedly said, "Hey squirt. How've you been?"

"Daddy!" There was no mistaking Seth's elation at being able to communicate with his father. "How come Daddy hasn't come over to see me for so long?"

"I had a lot of work to do," Seto replied absently. "Were you good?"

"Yes! You know, Daddy, yesterday my chee-cher said my drawing was very pretty!"

Seto raised an eyebrow as he placed his handphone on his desk with the loudspeaker function on. With his free hand, he pulled a file towards him and started flipping through the pages. "That's nice," he commented, his azure eyes scanning the contents of the file simultaneously. "What's your drawing about?"

"I drew you and Mummy and Mama Tea and zio Mokuba and me! Daddy, when are you coming over? I want to show it to you!" Seth pleaded.

Seto's hand stopped mid-air from flipping another page of the report he just started studying. Inwardly he groaned. He really needed to tell the entire story to Seth all over again – that little squirt needs to understand the issue between him and Caroline. His eyes ticked over to the calendar on his desk. With any luck, the court papers regarding Seth's custody would be finalized by Caroline's lawyers in a fortnight.

"I'll pick you up soon when I'm done with my work," Seto decided to assure his son vaguely. "But for now just be good as always, alright?"

"Alright, Daddy," If Seth was disappointed with his father's response, he did not show it in his voice. "I love you, Daddy!"

It took Seto a few seconds to finally say, "I love you too, Seth."


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N: helloo all! i'm back from my ultra-long break. i hope u guys haven't forgotten me or this story, cos i haven't! it's just that a lot of stuffs have been happening and only now during the hols i have time to sit down and type up this chapter.**

**anw, shan't let you guys wait. i get the feeling this story might end soon? but i have no idea when! hahah. okay, i'm shutting up now. enjoy this piece, and don't forget to review!**

**love, fika1603**

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The heavy doors opened and the butler bowed slightly in greeting. He snorted and strode calmly into the main hall and halted right before the grand staircase leading to the upper floors.

"Your briefcase, sir?" the butler inquired politely.

"There's no need," Seto scoffed, gripping his standard silver briefcase tighter. "Are your mistress and master at home?"

The butler nodded as he ushered Seto upstairs. However, Seto remained firmly where he was. The butler eyed him curiously. "Don't you want to see them?"

"I'd rather you call only Seth downstairs. I'll deal with your mistress later." Seto spun on his heels and made himself comfortable in the living room without a proper invite from the butler as the representative of the house. When he saw that the butler was still rooted at the entrance of the living room, he finally snapped, "What are you waiting for? Hanukkah?"

That got the butler to scramble upstairs in search of his young master. Seto sighed and rested the briefcase on the coffeetable. He wanted this entire thing to be settled, done and dusted as soon as possible. As much as he wanted to see Seth, he had no desire to be away from Domino City for long. There was just too much to settle – the stupid KCTP fiasco that cropped up earlier, the court papers, even Mokuba's studies. He was perfectly aware that his younger brother was struggling; he was just sorry that he could not have been there to help his brother out. For now, he had a lot of simplifying and explaining to do with his son.

Seto drummed his fingers impatiently on his briefcase. What was taking them so long? He groused. He pushed himself off the sofa and started to pace around the living room, subconsciously taking note of the details of the common space. Apparently Caroline had done away with her bar and in its place was just shelves filled with photographs. Seto neared those pictures and scrutinized them for a moment, and a sharp pang struck his heart. They were photos of Seth throughout the years, from when he was just delivered to this world until his days at preschool. In other word, times before Seth ever knew his father existed.

_Was the kid happier back then than he is now? _Seto wondered as he continued to peruse the photos.

"Daddy?"

That one word effectively ended his unsure train of thoughts. Seto turned around to see his beaming blonde son at the entryway of the living room running up to him. Gently, Seto bent down just enough until he could scoop the little tot up in his arms when Seth reached him.

"How are you?" Seto asked quietly.

"I miss you, Daddy!" Seth threw a quick hug around his father's neck. Seto hesitated, but patted his son's back lightly in return. Seth slapped a piece of paper on Seto's chest, and his father managed to catch it just in time before the paper flew. "See my drawing! There's you, there's me, there's Mama Tea, there's Mummy and zio Mokuba!"

Seto squinted hard at the scrawling at the top of the paper. "And what's that supposed to be?"

"My one big happy family!" Seth exclaimed happily. "See, Daddy. I drew Mummy in a wedding dress! Isn't she pwetty?"

Seto said nothing as he carried his son over to the sofa and sat Seth next to him. He shut his eyes as he took a deep breath. He had no choice but to do this. Until how long was Seth going to live in this world of fantasy and lie?

"Seth, I need to tell you something important," Seto started firmly. "I need you to listen to me carefully, understand?"

Seth nodded affirmatively, his blue eyes wide in anticipation. Seto placed a gentle hand on his son's head. "I can't be with Mummy, Seth. I'm going to marry Mama Tea, and she's going to be your new mother." Seto paused. "Do you understand me this far..?"

His son looked confused, but nodded anyway. Seto heaved a heavy sigh. "I'm your Daddy, and Mummy's your Mummy, right? But we cannot be together or marry because we don't love each other."

"So you love Mama Tea and that's why you're going to marry her? Then you mean she's going to be my stepmommy?" Seth sounded horrified at the impending prospect. "But I don't want a stepmommy! They are bad!"

Seto resisted the urge to snort like he usually would. "What makes you say that?"

"Mummy read to me Cinderella before, and in the story Cinderalla has a bad stepmommy who likes to make her sad!" Seth explained to his father as if Seto had never heard of those fairytales before. "And in Snow White, the bad stepmommy Queen wanted to kill her!"

Seto groaned_. Fairytales destroy kids,_ he thought icily. _Next time I'm going to ban these stories for my kids._

He shook his son's shoulders lightly. "Seth, those are just stories. Think of it this way. If you have a bunch of bananas, but if one of them goes bad, doesn't mean that all of them are bad, right? It's the same with people and stepmommies."

Seth looked at his father earnestly. "So Mama Tea is a good stepmommy?"

"Yes."

"She's not going to make me sad, or try to kill me?"

Seto barked out a short laugh. "Seth, she loves you. Of course she won't kill you or make you sad."

"Then what about Mummy?"

"Carol – I mean, Mummy will stay in Domino as well, but just not with me," Seto tried to explain as simply as he could. "So you might have to stay with me for a week, then with Mummy for another week, then with me, then with Mummy…" In an uncharacteristically desperate attempt, Seto held his son close to him and assured him, "Don't worry, Seth. We're not going to abandon you."

A feminine voice interjected, "We're never going to abandon you, sweetie."

Both father and son glanced up to see Caroline looking on at Seth with tears in her eyes. That immediately got Seth worried, and he pounded his mother with questions, "Mummy, are you crying? Mummy, mummy. Why are you crying?"

Caroline smiled as she traced her tears away. With her free hand, she ran it through her son's hair. "No, honey. I'm not crying. Really." She smiled wider. "See?"

That was enough to comfort her son. Seth beamed at her. "Don't cry, okay Mummy? Mummy's a princess. Princesses don't cry."

Caroline laughed as she reached down to hug her son. "I'm not crying, Seth. Believe me. Listen, can you go play first for now? I need to talk to Daddy."

Seth was more than happy to oblige. Caroline watched on smilingly as he slid off the couch and ran up to his playroom. When she turned to face Seto, the smile was gone. Seto sighed and shifted to one side to allow her space to sit.

"Hello…" Her words trailed off for a while before she completed her sentence. ".. friend."

"Carol, you really don't have to make this sound difficult," Seto rolled his eyes. "You know there's nothing between us, and never will be."

Caroline forced herself to laugh. "There's really no chance for me, is there?"

"How many times do I have to say it to you, Carol?"

The blonde woman sat in the empty space beside him and sighed. "I get it, I get it. Really, Seto, I'm not that dumb."

"Well, you are a blonde, after all," Seto muttered stoically.

Caroline hit him lightly on his arm. "I've a new aim in life, and that's to change the world's mindset about blondes."

"I hope you succeed."

Caroline had to laugh at that. "How come you rarely show your sense of humour, Seto? Life will be so much fun if you did." Without warning, she lurched forward and embraced him tightly. She murmured into his shirt, "I miss you, friend."

Surprisingly, Seto hugged her back. She could hear the sincerity in his voice as he spoke, "Things would have been much better if we remained that way always."

They pulled apart, and Caroline sighed as she continued, "Well, we skidded off the runway some time back. Who's to say we can't get back on it?" She extended her hand. "Friends?"

Seto frowned at her jewel-encrusted fingers. "Honestly, why do women like to waste money by pasting glitter and diamonds on their fingers of all places?"

"Seto, friends?"

The brunette grumbled as he shook hands with her. "Friends."

XO XO XO XO

Mischa shot the rookie executive her most murderous look. "So you're that moron who blabbed about KCTP to your reporter friend?" she thundered.

"I-I-I didn't know she would spill," the executive cringed.

"What do you mean, you didn't know?" Mischa yelled. She resisted the burning desire to rip off one of her stilettos and chuck it at the rookie's head. "Like, hello! Reporter! Hot news! What do you think they'll do?" She huffed angrily and slid a piece of paper over to the rookie. "Make sure you write down everything that you just told me, and make sure you go see Mr Boss. Is that clear?"

The rookie nodded and scurried to exit the room, but Mischa's sharp eyes caught the rookie muttering things under her breath that was clearly not praises for the Indonesian. In response to that, Mischa warned loudly, "And don't even dream about bitching about me!"

The rookie's exit coincided with Misa's entry, and Seto's secretary glanced back at the terrified rookie as she spoke to Mischa, "Thanks for doing Mr Kaiba's work that he assigned to me for me."

"So how's my fierce persona?" Mischa asked excitedly as she fluffed up her hair. "Bitchy enough?"

Misa laughed at her boss's personal fashion adviser. "Mischa, honestly, you looked like you enjoyed every moment of that. Oh yes, Marvell left you a message. Shouldn't you two be having lunch together or something?"

"Lunch?" Mischa grabbed her Hermes handbag and frantically searched for her handphone. When she finally found it and flicked it open, she let out a yelp. "Oh shit! Marvell! I am so sorry!" She tossed a set of keys over to Misa, who caught it easily. "Help me lock up! Marvell's going to ignore me the whole night!"

"What about Mr Kaiba?"

Mischa paused at the doorway for a split second as she thought for a while. "Mr Boss? Uhh… I'll send in my report regarding my bitch boss persona later! Even if he hates the way I handled that rookie just now, he can't fire me, you know. He needs me for his wardrobe! He has me to thank for his now-constant appearances on the fashion hit list in the Domino tabloids!"

Misa made shooing gestures with her right hand as she nodded as a sign of understanding. With another loud screeching thank you, Mischa fled the floor to her lunch spot. Just as Misa shook her head in disbelief at her colleague's bizarre antic, the office phone rang. Swiftly, Misa picked it up.

"Hello?"

"Misa? It's me. How did the blasting of the rookie went?"

"Mr Kaiba, you knew?!" Misa stared at the phone in shock. "How did you… how did you know?"

She could almost picture her boss rolling his eyes at the other end as he spoke, "I'm the boss, Misa. I know things. Anyway, prepare my files. I'll have a meeting with the executives the moment I touch down."

_Typical Mr Kaiba,_ Misa thought as she replied, "Yes, sir."


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N: hello all! thanks so much for the reviews and all (: and yes, to compensate for my lack of activity for months, i'll try to craft up as many chapters as i can this month.**

**anw, this chapter is slightly longer, and i think all of you deserved more of this story since the past few chapters were kinda short. and please, welcome back Tea into the story! will things get more complicated or is the resolution down the road? hmm.. i shall leave it to you guys.**

**so hope you guys have fun with this chapter (as much as i feel like slapping Seto in in the second half of this chapter) , and don't forget to review!**

**love, fika1603**

* * *

With murmurs of thanks, his executives filed out of the room, leaving only Misa and Mischa in the conference room with their half-irritated employer. The last-minute meeting was held to wrap up several aspects of the KCTP project, as well as for Seto to deliver his promotional idea to the rest of the board. Delivered, and not suggested, since they more or less have to accept what he had mapped out for them. Still, it was quite a surprise for them when they heard their employer's plan.

"Leather pants?" Mischa asked aloud, her pen already scribbling messy words onto her notepad.

Seto looked at her incredulously. "No."

"You wore that for Battle City, remember? And besides, that was leather skinnys," Mischa pointed out stubbornly.

It was Misa's turn to be confused. "I thought it was PVC?"

"And I spent 1K on PVC?" her boss snorted. "Anyway, Mischa. No leather. It gets disgusting when I perspire."

Mischa feigned surprise. "You're capable of perspiring in an air-con environment all the time?" Seto shot her a murderous glare, and she immediately lowered her gaze as she continued to scribble on her notepad. "Okay, no leather. Noted. But leather is nice!"

Seto went on as if he had not heard her. "You can stick to the belts and studs if you want. No chains. Try to keep it to simple colours."

"Pink?"

"I'll kill you," Seto replied simply. He peered at her notepad. "Are you jotting all of this down?"

"Yes, Mr Boss," Mischa grumbled. "Let me guess. Do you want your coat to be… let me see my checklist… water-proof, fire-proof, rip-proof, bullet-proof and dirt-proof?" Without waiting for her boss's answer, she just added it on to her list. "You sound like Batman, Mr Boss."

"Do I get a free mask?" Seto shot back sardonically. Beside him, Misa had to cough back her laugh.

"Okay, last question before I hightail it out of here," with her free hand, Mischa had already started to pack up her stuffs. "Smart, or flashy?"

Seto leaned back and smirked as he answered in an almost arrogant tone, "I like people to remember me, Mischa. I've been off the Duel Monsters scene for far too long. It's time to remind all those morons that I'm back."

XO XO XO XO

Tea glanced around the park, her cerulean eyes searching carefully. Even amongst the cherry blossoms sprinkling down on her, all she could see were other couples strolling along the paths, basking in the romantic environment the cherry blossoms seem to create.

She sighed as she wrapped her jacket tighter around her body to stave off the evening chill. She spotted an empty bench and made her way there. _Guess I'll have to wait for His Majesty to arrive,_ she thought glumly as she sat down, still searching for any sign of his presence.

"If he doesn't turn up, or cancel at the last minute, I'll kill him," she muttered in annoyance.

"If he does?"

Tea whirled around and could barely contain her delight when she finally saw him standing behind her. "Seto!" she exclaimed, as she got up to hug him.

However, he held his palm out, signaling her to stop. "Not here. Have you been waiting long?"

His girlfriend tried her best to hide her hurt and disappointment at his sudden iciness. "N-not really. Long day at work?"

Seto nodded as he signaled for her to follow him. "Yeah," he replied coolly. "Have you eaten?"

"Just lunch, but I'm not hungry," she reassured him quickly. She quickened her pace to catch up with him. "Seto, are you… okay?"

"Why wouldn't I be?"

Tea shrugged. "It's just that.. you're suddenly very cold today. It's a bit unlike you."

His simple reply cut her heart. "We're in a public place, Tea. People know who I am." He held open his limousine's door for her. "Get in."

Still confused and slightly terrified of her boyfriend's sudden change in attitude, Tea complied and waited until Seto got into the limousine from the other side. As the driver manoeuvred the car towards the designated destination, Tea turned her attention back to her fiancé.

"What's wrong with you, Seto?" there was no mistaking the anger in her voice. "One moment you're Dr Jekyll, the next you're Mr Hyde!"

"Like I said, Tea, we were in a public place," Seto answered coolly.

"Are you saying that I cannot be seen with you in public?" Tea asked him in disbelief.

"I never said that," Seto still seemed unaffected that he had upset his fiancée. "I'm not an advocate of public display of affection, unless you're Mokuba or Seth." He turned to her and spoke in as soothing a manner as he could muster (which is to say, not much). "Listen, Tea. I want today to be special for both of us. So can we not have such small spats ruin our day?"

_It's already ruined, anyway,_ Tea harrumphed in her mind.

"I hope you're not going to give me the silent treatment," Seto went on softly, peering out of the limousine window. "I know I act like a jerk sometimes, but Tea, try to understand me. Sometimes I don't have a choice, or I can't help it. I planned out this last-minute date because I probably won't get to see you much after today."

That finally caught Tea's attention. "Wh-what do you mean?"

"I'm going to be doing something I should have carried on from long ago: dueling." At Tea's surprised expression, he snorted. "Unlike the KC Grand Championship, this time round, I'm competing in my own competition. And this time round, I'm going to win. Make sure you tell Yugi that."

Although Seto mentioned his nemesis's name, the image of another person flitted into Tea's head. "I was actually thinking of another person that'll probably not be too happy about you beating Yugi, or even competing."

Seto rolled his eyes. "And tell Wheeler, he's _**banned**_. Don't even dream about sneaking in his participation this time round. Unless he wants to offer his jester and punching bag services for free."

"Again?! Honestly, what is it between you two?"

"I don't _like_ him. So I don't need an amateur like him to be polluting my competition." At Tea's glare, Seto added on, "What? He hates me as well. It's mutual hatred."

"But Joey only dislikes you because you're… well…" Tea attempted to defend her friend but could not bring herself to criticize her fiancé head-on.

"Better than him in every way?" Seto finished for her. Tea just nodded, despite the fact that the word she was gunning for was 'snobbish' , which clearly described his attitude now. "It's an old fact that'll remain until he dies."

Tea flinched at his words. "You do know he's my friend, Seto. You guys don't have to be in love with each other, but for one moment can you two be cordial about each other?"

Her fiancé sighed. "Why are we talking about that mutt?"

"Seto…"

"Fine, Wheeler. Why are we talking about him?" Seto began to sound cross with the entire situation.

_Didn't you raise the issue?_ Tea shot back in her mind, but outwardly she simply shook her head and placed a hand on his cheek. "I don't want to fight with you."

"Me either," Seto answered back quietly. He peered out of his limousine window. "We're here." As if on cue, his driver hurriedly opened the door. Seto stepped out and adjusted his suit. Normally, Tea would have grumbled that she had to get out of a vehicle unassisted, but she was starting to get used to her fiancé's rather self-centred ways.

"Eh, we're at your house?" Tea asked rather stupidly as she hurried after Seto to enter the manor. She glanced around the household; it was uncharacteristically dark, and quiet. "Where's everyone? Isn't it a bit too early for everyone to turn in?"

Seto ushered her to the dining hall. "I gave everyone a day off," he muttered. "And I made Mokuba stay over at his friend's house."

"You what?!"

Seto shrugged as he sauntered over to switch on the chandelier lights. "I needed to do that for this."

Tea's eyes widened when the light came into view. The soft sunset yellow light perfectly illuminated the silverware laid on the table, and to complement that sparkling view was the spread of food on the table. It was not a lot, but the way it had been arranged made it seem such. Yet there was something peculiar about the food – it was not in the way Nana would have prepared it. Tea whirled around to be face-to-face with her fiancé, who had already diverted his attention to a painting on the wall.

Smiling inwardly, she carefully approached him and placed a hand on his arm. "You prepared all of this, didn't you?"

Seto still did not look at her as he answered, "I know, it's nice. Naturally."

Tea laughed as she tip-toed to give him a quick peck on the cheek. "Thank you." She eyed the food cautiously. "Are you sure the food's edible?"

Her fiancé snorted in ridicule. "What are you talking about? Of course it is. I had Nana taste them before I let her go off." Suddenly, a stricken look crossed his expression, as if he had let slip something he should not had. Lowering his voice to a mutter, he gently steered Tea towards the dining table, "Come on. You're hungry, I think."

"What happens if I'm not?"

"Then at least have the courtesy to sample what your host has prepared for you," Seto smirked as he pulled out a chair for her. "What would you like to drink?"

The brown-haired girl shook her head as she laughed uncontrollably. "Seto, politeness on you equals to dripping sarcasm. Still, plain water will do, thank you."

"For the first time, I'm not hearing things like Coke." Seto commented as he poured out the drinks for them before taking his seat next to Tea. He gestured to her to have the first bite of the steak, which she promptly did. While she was chewing, he eyed her carefully. "Is it cooked?"

She nodded as she continued to munch. "Yeah, but I think next time round you can build up the taste a bit more."

"More black pepper and more sauce," Seto said matter-of-factly.

As they carried on with their dinner, Tea could not help but blurt out, "I never knew you could cook. I always thought you'd leave cooking to the cooks in the kitchen."

Seto carefully sliced his steak as he replied contritely after a few seconds of silence, "I never knew I could do a lot of things." He paused, as if unsure to carry on. Yet eventually, he said, "Like having a son."

Those four words stopped Tea from even putting her utensils down on her plate. Instead, she simply stared hard at Seto in shock. Seto barely seemed to register her stare as he continued to slice his steak and eat it as if he was in an automated mode. Eventually Tea did snap out of her funk.

"What are you saying, Seto?" she tried to hold back the urge to smack his head. "You regret having Seth in your life?" When Seto still did not react to her words, she grabbed his hand and shook it. "Look at me, Seto. You regret having Seth?"

Seto's head snapped to glare at her, and it was then she finally understood what he felt. She gently placed a hand on his cheek and spoke as she peered deep into his pained azure eyes, "You're scared about something, aren't you? What is it, Seto? Tell me, please. Don't hide things from me anymore."

Seto averted his gaze downwards to the edge of the dining table. Yet when he spoke, his cold tone cleverly concealed his fear, "How am I going to present Seth to the world, Tea? As an illegitimate child?" Tea moved to caress his face reassuringly, but Seto pushed her hand away. "I led a hard childhood, Ti. I don't need my son to endure the same thing."

"Seto…"

"And my reputation, Ti. If the world knows I have an illegitimate son, their entire perception about me will change. And then when it comes to the law… I don't want Seth to be denied anything that he deserves to get. Right now, even if I want to place him as my heir, I can't."

"Seto…" Tea tried again.

This time round, Seto stood up from his seat and dragged Tea up along with him. "Go home," he told her harshly, turning his face away from her. When Tea still did not budge, he cleared his throat and said more firmly, "Go home, Tea."

Tea clutched his arm and shook it hard. "Seto, I'm your fiancée. It's alright if you need to share – "

"There's no need to," he shot back in an icy cold tone, freezing Tea momentarily. "Go home."

In one last attempt before she fled his manor, Tea said softly, "You don't have to bear the burden of your life alone, you know, Seto. I love you, so please, stop pushing me out."


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N: hey all! finally managed to complete this chapter! (yes, i dumped history for this)**

**anw, glad to know you guys have been enjoying the past few chapters (: so i hope you guys will like this as well. and yes, as much as we all love seto, sometimes we feel like whacking him too.**

**okay, i shall end my rambling. enjoy this piece, and review as usual!**

**love, fika1603**

**P/S: song used is Jashin To Bara by Nightmare/Naitomea. although i don't think seto would listen to such songs :/**

* * *

Joey nudged Tristan and whispered, "Hey, is it just me, or is Tea looking pretty down nowadays?"

Tristan furrowed his eyebrows and peeked furtively at their female friend. She was chatting avidly with Yugi as they nursed milkshakes and cookies at the other end of the table. Tristan turned back to Joey and shot him his most incredulous look.

"She's laughing there happily and you said she's sad?" Tristan hissed back, stabbing his French fries in the process. "What are you, blind?"

"Oi," Joey protested indignantly. "You're the blind one. Haven't you noticed? For this past week she has been spending time only with us. And she never seem to care about dropping by to see her wonderful fiancé."

His Mohawk-haired friend leaned in and spoke in a conspiratorial whisper, "You think those two had a lovers' fight?"

The blonde guy nodded furiously in return. "It's Seto Kaiba, dude," he lightly thumped the table with every word said. "I bet he's the one who started the fight. Stupid jerk. I can't believe Tea's in love with him. And gonna get married to him. How is she going to live with that sort of stuck-up rich boy attitude?"

All of a sudden Tristan knocked him on his head. Joey yelped, "Yo man! What's the matter with you?" Tristan mouthed something to him while pointing to something behind Joey, but the blonde was still lost. "Eh, what's wrong with you?"

Tristan grabbed Joey's head and turned it around. "Oh," Joey finally understood. "Oh! Tea! Jeez! I'm so sorry!"

Their brunette female friend simply shook her head as she gave them a small smile. "Nah, it's okay," she reassured them. "You guys were right. Things between me and Seto aren't … going that smoothly. For now." She glanced away for a moment before she carried on. "I … I don't know how else I can understand him, guys. He's so … defensive, he puts up walls all around him and the worse thing is when he's uncertain about something, he'll just put up more walls." She stabbed her nugget with her fork as she said, "He's so frustrating!"

Her three guy friends fell silent at her outburst. Of course, the one thought that was running through their heads simultaneously was a typical 'we know it from the start but why can't you see it?' However, none of them wanted to let that thought slip because none of them wanted to add on to their best friend's misery.

Tea looked at her friends' guilty features and let out a laugh. "And what's up with you guys looking like that?! The person who's supposed to be in deep worry is me, and I'm looking calmer than you guys!" When her friends' reactions did not change, the line of resignation finally etched itself across her features and she went on sadly, "Guess I should stop lying, huh? I'm really worried about Seto, guys. I just don't know what else to do. How can he expect me to be there for him and support him when he's pushing me away? He keeps saying he never runs from his problems. But from what I see, he runs away first. Then he settles it."

Joey snorted. "Isn't it typical moneybags do things like that?" At Tea's sharp glare, he feebly corrected himself, "But this is about his own flesh and blood. He really shouldn't be doing that."

Yugi looked at his friends questioningly as he mused out loud, "Kaiba never does things without a reason. But when he's threatened… honestly Tea, this is a bit unlike him."

His female friend shrugged. "That's why. If he suddenly goes all haughty and arrogant, I can accept it because I'll understand that's his normal defense procedure." She glanced out of the window onto the bustling street. "I'm just so lost. What does he treat me as?"

XO XO XO XO

The flaming red Ferrari Enzo screeched to a halt and a dark-suited figure leapt out of it. He swiftly headed towards the bridge railings and tiredly leaned his stomach against it. He kept his blue eyes transfixed on the calm waters of the river as his hand reached into his pants pocket to retrieve a pack of cigarettes and lighter. Just as he was about to light one up, his hand faltered.

_I promised Mokuba I'd quit,_ he recalled guiltily. He raked a frustrated hand through his hair. _But everything's in such a mess now, I can't think!_

"And you think one wouldn't hurt," a sardonic voice floated from behind him.

Seto's head snapped behind, and he scowled at the intruder. "What are you doing here, Nagawaki?" He diverted his attention back to the river water and this time, hastily lit up his first cigarette stick in years without thinking much. "Why don't you go back to the other end of the business district where you're from?"

Suwa snorted as he stepped up to stand beside his student. "You know, I came here to take an evening stroll before dinner. Not to have a petty argument with an obnoxious immature kid like you. Till this day, I wonder why Tea fell for you." He casually reached a hand out and flicked the cigarette away from Seto's mouth and into the river. "As a school authority, it's my right to instill discipline in you whether you attend school or not. And besides, isn't this a bad example to your son who idolizes you so much?"

"Don't try to drive personal attacks on me," Seto warned.

"Who is?" Suwa shrugged. He flicked a strand of hair out from his eye and shot Seto a reassuring smile. "Kaiba, as your teacher, I have the right to acknowledge your wrongs. As your friend, I have the right to advice you if you're wrong, too. But that's all I can do: advice. I leave the decision up to you. Good evening, Kaiba."

Seto gritted his teeth in anger as he let Suwa walk away from him. Once his rival was out of earshot, Seto pounded the railing hard with his fist as he let out an angered and frustrated roar. He kept on pounding the railing, even kicking it, over and over again until he was finally reduced to an exhausted heap on the floor. He leaned back against the railing and stared hard at his car as he lit up another cigarette and took a long drag from it.

_I'm sorry I broke our promise, Moki,_ Seto commiserated miserably, shutting his eyes tightly as he took another long drag of smoke. He blew the smoke out as he glanced up at the darkening sky. _I'm sorry I'm not a good father, Seth. And I'm sorry I'm such a lousy fiancée, Ti._ He let his head drop into his hands as he slammed himself with another self-criticism, _I'm sorry I can't change, not for any of you. I love all of you, but I can't say it out. I don't want to hurt any of you any longer. Every single person who's been with me just end up hurt by me, one way or another._

He got to his feet, stubbed out his cigarette and got back into his car. Still facing the sunset, and basking as the star cast her melancholic rays over him, Seto reached out to switch on the radio. He blindly scrolled through the music, dismissing the likes of jazz, ballad, pop. Eventually, a song finally came to his liking.

_A little thought __  
__forming the beginning __  
__I'm not able to suppress __  
__the burgeons of the evil __"Let me see the end of your soul" _

_The false god whispered tenderly and sweetly __We couldn't trust each other __  
__and now I'm wielding an empty power __  
__it livens up the colour of __  
__a dead view __I ask myself since when i always forget __  
__to think of anyone else __  
__the mutual destroying in a small world __here's no hopeful tomorrow __  
__so I surrendered myself to the destruction created by an evil god __ blooming flower which couldn't refuse the colour __  
__due to its clearness __  
__the evil god and roses __e couldn't trust each other __  
__and now I'm wielding an empty power __  
__this shaking world __  
__moans because of us __When I recognized it, I forget who I am __  
__even now I don't know __  
__The darkness that covers my broken person __  
__is smiling silently __I ask myself since when i always forget __  
__to think of anyone else __  
__the broken heart will never be dressed_

T

A

W

Even after the song ended, Seto carried on staring into space. _Did I forget who I am? _He raised a hand to his heart and placed it there, letting himself feel the beatings of his heart. _Deep down inside, who am I?_

He raised his head to watch the sun slowly sink into the horizon, and disappear without a trace as the night sky spread its wings and took over the order of the world. Seto revved up his engine and headed his car back onto the road. He already found the answer.

XO XO XO XO

Caroline let out an exasperated sigh as she tried to persuade Seth for the umpteenth time to brush his teeth. Finally, she gently dragged her blonde son away from his toy train set and hauled him to the bathroom. As she made him stand on his little stool to reach the sink, she squeezed out a small portion of toothpase onto his toothbrush and passed it to him.

"But Mummy, I don't want to go to sleep yet," Seth whined as he resisted the toothbrush.

His mother shook her head stubbornly. "Seth, I let you stay up past your bedtime already," she insisted strictly. "Little kids shouldn't sleep late."

"But I'm not little!" Seth responded indignantly, puffing his chest out.

"Right you are," Caroline smiled knowingly. "So go on, come down from the stool on your own."

Seth's face panicked as he peered at the floor. He shuffled his feet slightly, and glanced at his mother unsurely. "Mummy? I'm scared."

Caroline had to laugh at her son's reaction. Bending down, she held the toothbrush out in front of him and asked him smilingly, "I'll only help you down after you brush your teeth. So come on, open your mouth."

In the end, Seth obliged and Caroline hurriedly attacked his teeth. Once they were done, she hoisted Seth up in her arms and carried him to his bedroom, weaving a quick tale about a duck and a chicken along the way. She knew it probably did not make sense to have the duck fall in love with the chicken, but seeing Seth enjoying it just warmed her heart.

"But Mummy, if the duck marries the chicken, then what will their children be?" Seth managed to eke out a question through his yawn.

Caroline thought for a while as she pulled the covers up for him. "Uhh… I don't know their species precisely, but I do know what their kid will be called."

"What?"

"Chuck," Caroline beamed as she bent down to kiss her son's forehead. "Chicken plus duck equals to Chuck."

Seth grinned at her answer as he exclaimed, "I know what that is! You taught it to me once! It's called a uhh.. re.. uhh.."

"Rebus," she completed for him. "We'll think up of more tomorrow, alright? Now, isn't Mummy's little hero supposed to be sleeping?"

Once Seth shut his eyes (albeit smiling to sleep), Caroline quietly exited and closed the door behind her. She was just about to head over to her room when the phone downstairs rang. Remembering that her servant had already turned in for the day, she hurried down to answer it. The voice on the other end startled her slightly, less because of the person rather than the tone itself.

"Tea, what's wrong?" were the first few words to spill out of her mouth.

"Carol, I … I just need to talk about Seto."

Caroline moved herself into a more comfortable position on her couch. "Seto? What did he do now?"

As Caroline listened in to Tea's story, her brows furrowed in worry. _Just what's wrong with him now?_ She wondered. But out loud she said, "Ah, don't worry, Ti. Maybe he's just going through one of his mood-swings." _Yeah, right. Seto has mood-swings_. "Give him some space. He'll come around when he's better."

"I know, but I'm just so lost about this entire thing," apparently Caroline's words had no soothing effect on Tea.

"Trust me, Ti," Caroline insisted again, more kindly this time. "I've known Seto for half of my life. He'll come round. He always does."

There was silence on the other end for a while, but eventually Tea spoke, "Alright. I guess you may be right. Thanks again, Carol."

"No problem, Ti," Caroline replied before they hung up. Huffing as she scrolled through the numbers in her handphone, Caroline muttered, "What is up with you now, Seto?" The other end rang for quite some time, but no one answered. Eventually, she was directed to his voice mailbox. Without restraining herself, she recorded her message, "Seto, it's me, Carol. Just what is wrong with you? Seriously. If you have problems, it doesn't kill to share." She paused for a while before adding the last sentence, "Listen, call me back when you can."

She disconnected the call and stared at her phone. "Honestly, Seto, don't make me worry about you."


	23. Chapter 23

**A/N: hey guys! first of all, i am truly truly truly sorry it took me FOREVER to update D: i haven't had time to write at all cos school just horribly consumed all of my life, which is quite sad, i know. BUT since my promotional exams are done with, i have a bit more free time (school term is ending sooooon!) so i thought i'd type up a chapter for you guys!**

**thanks so much for still reading and waiting, and i felt really bad because it feels like i abandoned this story for months D:**

**anyway, i hope you guys enjoy this little bit, and i apologise beforehand if it's too short or well, not as convincing as the previous chapters. i'm still thinking of how else to develop the story. btw, story ideas are welcomed!**

**okay, shutting up now (: enjoy the chap, and review as usual!**

**miss you guys a lot,**

**Fika1603**

* * *

He listened to the voice message in his phone with little expression, then disconnected and pocketed it. _It doesn't kill to share_, he thought contritely as he stared blankly at the marble slab of stone in front of him. _I just don't want to share._

He gently smoothed out the tip of the stone slab with his left hand, wishing that for once it was a sense of warmth and not coldness that greeted his palm. How long has it been, anyway? Ten years? Twenty? It did not seem to matter anymore. It seemed so long ago, it was almost eradicated from the banks of his memory.

"Flowers, sir?"

The voice startled him, and Seto turned to see a smiling old man holding out a small bouquet of marigold. The KaibaCorp CEO stared at the newcomer for a few seconds more in shock, before he rapidly blinked his eyes and declined as gently as possible.

Luckily, the old man did not seem to take heart. Rather, he continued to smile as he peered at what Seto has been staring at for the past three hours. "Someone you know?" he asked, acknowledging the two photos on the marble wall.

For once, Seto was at loss. He continued to stare at the photos for a while longer, before he finally replied, "My… my parents. It's been… a while. Since they were gone. I… almost can't remember them."

"I see," the old man almost sounded sympathetic. He placed a reassuring hand on Seto's arm. Seto almost jumped out of his skin at the contact. "Well, as far as I can tell from what I can see, you resemble your mother greatly. And she looks like a wonderful person. Was she?"

Seto remained silent as he inspected his mother's photograph more intently. The old man was right; he had a lot of his mother's features. Their penetrating blue eyes. Their sharp facial features. But there was something distinctly different in the way her features were played out and his: she was beaming.

Suddenly his heart began to ache as reality sank in. Suddenly a dusty part of his memory decided to unlock itself, and his mother's soothing voice filled his head, "Keep smiling, because no matter what happens or how hard life is, my love will always be there to shine on you and protect you."

_But how can I when I can't even remember you_! Seto glared at his mother's photograph with fierce sorrow. He didn't know who he was more furious at, himself for not remembering his mother, or his mother for not being able to imprint herself so deeply in his mind.

"Sir? Sir!"

Startled out of his stupor, Seto turned to face the old man with a trace of annoyance belying his jaw. "I'm sorry," he coolly maintained his polite composure. "You were saying?"

The old man shook his head. "I was just telling you that this shrine was supposed to be closed an hour ago. But if you'd like to stay on here a little longer, then I'd be more than willing to keep the place open."

Seto let out a taut smile. "It's alright. I think I'll be leaving now." He was about to turn on his heels and head out, but stopped in his tracks. He turned back to the old man. "How much are all of those marigold?"

XO XO XO XO

Caroline yawned as she cast an evil glance at her cellphone. She had been staying up just in case her son's wonderful father called. Two hours had passed, but still there was not even a message on her phone. And in that two hours, Tea had called. Twice. Caroline has had enough of that female brunette invading her privacy.

She grabbed her cellphone again and punched in Seto's number. Again, his voicemail. "Seto, get back to me ASAP!" she warned him in a low voice. "I've had enough of your fiancée asking me what's wrong with you. I'm not your baby-sitter. So fix your attitude and just bloody answer the phone and call me back! Or better yet, call Tea!"

After she hung up, she resisted the urge to slam her phone against the coffee table. Who the heck did Seto think she was, to be sitting around waiting for him to call? She leant back into her sofa and let out a huge sigh. If he still has not called back within an hour…

The intercom buzzer rang, snapping Caroline out of her stupor. Stretching out slightly, she pressed a button to speak into the phone linked to the intercom system at the front gate, "Yes?"

"Miss Lobo, there's someone here to see you. I've sent him in."

Before Caroline could even ask who, her security guard had logged off the intercom, just in time for a knock on her mansion's front door. Scowling, she dragged her tired self over to open it. The moment she saw who it was at her doorstep, she bluntly said, "Moron."

The brunette seemed to ignore her. "Can I stay over for the night?" He sounded as if he was informing rather than asking, as he strode past her into the threshold.

Closing the door as quietly as she could, Caroline stared after him as he made his way upstairs, "You know, when you crash people's house, you don't just tell them you're crashing and then … head to wherever you're crashing. You ask them permission and let them show you to your room."

His reply was simple and definitive, "Good night."

Caroline continued to scowl after him, but said nothing except to call out, "Guest room's second from the left!"

XO XO XO XO

Seto pushed open the door to his son's bedroom surreptitiously, even limiting the amount of light streaming in from the main hallway through the cracks into the bedroom. Despite his tiredness, he found himself being washed over by a huge wave of calmness as he observed Seth's sleeping figure. He walked over carefully to his son's bedside, and gingerly sat the edge of the bed. He reached a hand out to stroke his son's hair, then hesitated.

Mum, if you were here, would you be proud to see Seth? Seto aimlessly directed his thoughts towards her as he rested his hand on his son's head. Seth did not even stir. Sighing, he gently shifted his son so that there was space for him to lie down beside his son. As his fingers lightly stroked Seth's fine blond hair, Seto unwittingly allowed himself a small smile. I know you'll be proud to see Seth.

"I'm not going to let him end up like me," Seto whispered a promise – to himself, to his mother, to his son. "The world can go to hell, but I'm not going to let Seth suffer like I did."

With that, he pushed himself out of bed and strode over to the window, flicking aside the curtain slightly to look out into the moonlit courtyard. With his other hand, he dialed a number on his mobile phone. The other end rang for a while, until a groggy voice uttered a "Hello?"

"Takanori, it's Kaiba."

"Kaiba?" his acquaintance sounded surprised. "What… It's 3am, man. Jeez. Can't it wait till tomorrow morning?"

Seto half-smirked, "Isn't it already?"

Takanori grumbled, but relented by asking, "Can't argue with you on that. What you need?"

Seto turned around slightly, the iced fire in his eyes waning slowly as he stared at his peacefully sleeping son. "I need you to draw up my will. I can pass off my wealth to whomever I want, right? Even if they're… unofficial family?"

"Unofficial?"

"As in, they are family. Just … not recognized by law."

"What… where are you now? I think you need to explain to me in detail."

Seto was slightly taken aback by his lawyer friend's eagerness, but took no notice of it. "I'll see you for breakfast at the café near your house in an hour. Let me get some sleep."

On the other end, Takanori snorted, "So now I transferred my sleep to you. Fine, I'll see you there. And as your legal counsel, I need you to fill me in all the necessary details."

"I believe it's my obligation," Seto replied levelly, ending the conversation.

XO XO XO XO

Tea gave up in her attempt to sleep. Throwing the covers aside, she sat up and glanced over at the digital clock by her bedside. It was nearly dawn. Her eyes traveled to her mobile phone and she felt a disappointing punch hit her in the gut. No one had called her. Not Seto, not even Caroline.

She pulled out a small fabric-bound notebook from her bedside drawer, flicked on the lamp and reached out for a pen:

_Dear Diary,_

_I am so sick of this entire deal. I am so sick of Seto pulling off his Houdini act everytime he feels like it. He tells me that he loves me, he tells me that he loves Mokuba, he tells me that he loves Seth. If he really loves all of us, then why is he hurting all of us like this?_

_Maybe he's confused and overwhelmed by all of this madness – I understand that. But what I don't get, and I can't accept, is how he's running away from all of this. Pull into himself and block out every single being in the world, as if his burden is too huge to be shared. He used to confide in Mokuba. Not directly, but he would hint. But now? Why is he being so selfish? I won't even call this sacrificial; to me, this is just plain stupid selfishness._

_To him, the world revolves around him; so does this mean that he has to be the axis to put every single mad thing in his world in balance? I know, he screwed up more than once in his life. And I know that he constantly beat himself up over the guilt._

_But doesn't he realize that he's important enough in the lives of the people who love him to be forgiven? When I found out about Seth, I was hurt. And I'm not going to lie by saying that I have never blamed Seth for causing Seto to be plunged into this trouble. But I know that the stark reality is that, all of this is Seto's doing. It's his own fault, and he has to face up to it._

_He's deliberating between choosing a life with me and Mokuba, and a life with Seth and Caroline. I know that. Although he's trying to balance out things by separating life with Seth and life with Carol, although he's attempting to merge Seth into the life with me and Mokuba without any trace of Carol… that's near impossible. Seth cannot be separated from her, and Carol… I don't think she can really bear to be separated from him, either. Doesn't Seto realize that?_

Tea slammed her notebook shut and tossed it onto the space on the bed beside her. As she glanced up at her ceiling fan, she steeled herself with every rotation of the blades. All of this madness has to stop. For everyone's sake.


	24. Chapter 24

**A/N:**

**case: not updating this fanfic for month**

**verdict: guilty as charged!**

**-gets stabbed by everyone who's been waiting for an update since forever-**

**hey guys, i'm so sorry i disappeared (again) from the face of for months D: i was actually suffering from writers' block. hehh.**

**BUT i'm back! XD**

**and here's a new chapter up! thank you everyone for still supporting! i'm sorry i suck at frequent updates D:**

**alrites, hope you all will like/hate/be mad at this one. cos i'm actually wondering what i'm turning the story into.....**

**but whatever the case, here i present to you, Scars Are The Notes Of Love Chapter 24!**

**love, fika1603**

* * *

Takanori stared at Seto, unsure of how to react. The Kaiba Corporation CEO was coolly seated across him, sipping his first daily dosage of espresso. A plate of crossaints remained untouched on the ceramic plate in front of him, and quite possibly would remain uneaten until the end of the discussion.

"So?"

"Huh?" Takanori snapped out of his funk.

Seto gave him a pointed look. "Can you draw up that will for me?"

His associate shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "I could, but…" he hesitated as he reached out for his Americana. "I don't know, Kaiba… your situation's tough. And I'm trying to make sense of things."

"I have a five-year-old son with Caroline Lobo," Seto replied flatly, setting his cup down. His azure eyes were drilling holes in Takanori's skull. "How hard is it to understand that?"

Takanori had known Seto long enough to ignore any venomous tone belying the CEO's words. Instead, he heaved a deep sigh and raked his hand through his hair. "I get that part. But man… didn't you ever heard of protection?" At Seto's death stare, he quickly got back into character. "I could try, but it's officially recognized that Mokuba's your heir, should anything happen to you because he's family. But if you want to transfer your wealth to your kid… I think they'd probably give in more if he's legitimately related to you."

Seto opened his mouth to argue, but the word "legitimate" hit home hard. All along he had been so used to acknowledging Seth as his son, the issue of legitimacy was thrown out of the window. To think that he would prefer to keep the existence of his son a secret until the right time. Seto gritted his teeth in annoyance at himself.

"But you know," Takanori went on, completely oblivious to his tense associate. He tapped his finger on the rim of his Americana mug at every pause. "If you give your wealth to Seth, then what's going to happen to Mokuba?"

Seto frowned. "I'm not giving Mokuba's share away. That's his right."

"So when he's of age, you'll return him the 50% that he gave you all those years ago?"

"Obviously," Seto snorted, as if such a statement was brutally blatant, even an idiot could have understood it.

However, Takanori was persistent. "No, what I mean is, who'll inherit Kaiba Corporation in the future? Mokuba or Seth? Because if you say you're going to pass on your wealth to Seth, that automatically means the position as President of Kaiba Corporation as well." Seeing that Seto still could not truly understand what he was getting to, Takanori leaned in and added on quietly, "I'm not talking about material wealth here, Kaiba. I'm talking about Seth's position in your family. If he's to inherit Kaiba Corporation one day, are you able to stand by and let others bash him for not being your legitimate son?"

"I – "

"And what if you get married and have another kid?" Takanori fired away his hypotheses. "There's bound to be conflict. Don't even try to deny it."

Seto diverted his focus on sipping his coffee. He hated it when others seem to hit the nail on the head, and his brain could not work fast enough to defend himself with a rejoinder. It rarely happened, but in a time like this, he was vulnerable to all these ugly but possible hypotheses of the future.

"Are you suggesting I legitimize my own son?" Seto replied back more acidly than he intended.

Takanori nodded. Seto resisted the urge to crush the espresso cup in his hand. Things just turned out to be messier.

XO XO XO XO

"Are you sure you wanna do this, Ti?" Mokuba asked gently. "I mean, you don't have to force yourself to do this if you don't want to. It's not…"

Tea smiled bitterly and glanced at him. "Not what?"

Her fiancé's younger brother averted his gaze to the floor and said softly, "Not fair. Why are you always sacrificing for Big Brother? He's always hurting you…" After a slight pause, he added tentatively, "He never seems to care, does he?"

Tea fell silent in shock. So Seto had been ignoring his brother as well? She sighed inwardly. _You're too much, Seto._

"He's been too carried away with this whole Seth issue," Tea said matter-of-factly. There was no mistaking the disdain in her tone. "I'm so tired of this. I know it's not like me to just give up, but I'm really tired, Mokuba." She glanced at him cautiously, "Please don't be mad at me. I'm not leaving your brother, I just… need to put an end to things. For a while. Until his mind is sorted out."

Mokuba nodded miserably in understanding. Tia had been so understanding to Seto all this while, giving in to him when in truth, he felt that she shouldn't. She had even been gracious enough to accept Seth whole-heartedly, even forgive Caroline for that matter. But Seto still went about as if everything was subordinate to him and his thoughts. Not that they weren't, but still…

"How are you going to tell him?" Mokuba finally spoke up. "I don't even know when he'll come back.."

His brother's to-be ex-fiancée gave a short dark laugh. "Please, he didn't even turn up for graduation ceremony. I don't know… should I tell him over the phone, or tell him personally? But that will take forever, won't it?"

A shadow loomed over them. Tea and Mokuba froze. They looked nervously at each other, before carefully lifting their eyes up to meet the gaze of the newcomer. Mokuba broke out into a wide grin as he leapt up to hug the person. Seto's icy gaze softened as he knelt down to embrace his brother tightly. Tea glanced away. Seeing Seto bring down his wall of invulnerability, it was tugging at her heartstrings.

_I can't let myself go weak_, she chided herself. _This is for Seto's own good_.

When she did revert her glance to the brothers, she saw Seto looking at her stoically. The coldness of his blue eyes made her shiver. How was she going to tell him?

Mokuba glanced at the two young adults, and cleared his throat loudly. "Uh, I think I'll go in first. Let's have lunch together, okay?"

Seto nodded gravely while Tea made her smile look as pleasant as possible. Mokuba threw them a grin and hurriedly snuck back into the house. The warm and comforting atmosphere was quickly replaced by a tense and pounding one.

"So what did you have to tell me?" Seto enunciated his words calmly.

"I… uhh…" Tea stammered. "Seto, please don't get mad at me. But I think it's for our own good if we –"

"End this relationship?" Seto finished for her. His level tone was a perfect complement to his icy features. He snorted at Tea's surprised look. "I'm not deaf, Ti."

His fiancée opened her mouth to speak, but the haughtily-defensive CEO cut in. "Don't need to explain yourself to me. I don't need somebody who sees my son as a threat."

"Wait a minute!" Tea cried out indignantly.

"What?" Seto shot back. "_I'm not leaving your brother, I just… need to put an end to things. For a while. Until his mind is sorted out_." He threw her a look. "I heard you, Gardner. And for your information, I've already got my mind sorted out. But your decision just reinforced my other idea."

Tea really wanted to keep her mouth shut, but somehow these two words could not resist escaping her lips, "Oh really?"

Seto looked hard at her, his azure eyes clouding over with all sorts of emotions and thoughts, it was near impossible for Tea to comprehend. But before he turned on his heels to return to the solace of his mansion, he made sure to mutter loud enough for her to hear, "You know, you should have just let me marry Carol last time. At least with her, I know Seth won't be hated."

XO XO XO XO

Tea stared at herself hard in the bathroom mirror. Deep down, she really wanted to cry. Seto's words cut much deeper than she had imagined, it felt as if simply with those words her heart was sliced neatly into two. But the stubborn side of her persistently reminded her, he was not worth her tears. It did not matter how much she loved him, but when he had the temerity and the lack of guilt to throw such a painful accusation her way, she shouldn't be crying over such a jerk.

_If he really loves you, he wouldn't have regretted not marrying Carol, would he?_ She questioned herself as she scrolled through her handphone's contact list blindly. _By saying that, doesn't he mean that whether it's me or Caroline he's with, it's just the same?_ _Jerk…_

Suwa Nagawaki's name popped up in her contact list and Tea's finger halted from pressing the 'down' button. She thought for a while, then finally pressed the green call button. As she waited for the other end to pick up, her stubborn half continued to chide her, _How stupid can you get, Tea? How stupid of you to turn down – no, make that not even to give a fleck of bother – to someone who waited on you for nearly 5 years. Just for a rich jerk that you love who easily dumped you_. She choked back a sob. _A jerk that dumped you too easily_.

"Eh, hello?" the other end finally picked up, and Suwa's familiar voice floated up to her ears from the receiver.

"Suwa, it's me, Tea," she tried to sound as cheery as possible.

"Hey Ti, what's up? Eh, hold on, give me a minute. Hey Sue, can you just put a 'not in office' notice for me? Or whatever that spells 'do not disturb'? Just no bloody pig's head or something. Thanks! Okay, back. Oh yes, what's up?"

Tea had to smile hearing how candid Suwa was, even to his secretary. "Nothing much. Just feeling bored. Anyway, are you supposed to be working now? Cos if you are, I'll talk to you another time.."

"Nah, it's okay. I'm actually in a bank's HQ marking essays. Like what the hell. And! You don't sound bored. You sound sad. Don't lie to me." His candid tone gave way to a more serious but gentle one. "Hey, what's wrong?" When Tea still did not reply, Suwa guessed. "Did something happen with uhh… Kaiba?"

"Don't say his name!" Tea suddenly snapped. She took a deep breath, composed herself and continued, "I'm sorry. I'm just… I … he broke up with me before I could break up with him."

"Ah…" Suwa sounded dumbfounded on the other end. If it was mutual, why would she be so distraught? "Hmm… okay, let me tell you this. Dry your tears, and get ready to meet me at the Starbucks at the plaza near your house in 20 minutes, alright? We can talk better and easily there." He hastily added, "If you want, and feel like it. It's alright if you don't feel like sharing."

Tea sighed resignedly. "No, it's okay. I need to talk to someone with a level head. I'll see you there."

XO XO XO XO

Lunch in the Kaiba mansion went by with an uneasy silence. When Seto stormed in looking like he did everytime Yugi beat him, Mokuba knew it was more than wise to not say much. Still, he maintained his upbeat composure as Seto took a seat beside him at the long dining table. He tried to keep the atmosphere as light as possible by rattling about his school, but after noticing Seto was only half-listening, he stopped.

As Mokuba reached out for a watermelon slice, he snuck a peek at his older brother. Seto was eating with less fervour than usual – not that Seto had always been enthusiastic about food from the start, of course. Mokuba bit his lip as he contemplated whether to shatter the silence with a random school tale. Too late. Seto beat him to it.

"Let's get out of Japan," Seto said abruptly.

Mokuba nearly choked on his watermelon in surprise. "Huh?"

"Let's go back to America," Seto repeated himself more clearly now. "Just you and me." Seeing Mokuba's worried face, he added on, "Don't worry about school. I'll get Tanaka to let you off on official business leave."

"Okay…" Mokuba replied hesitantly, sinking back in his chair a bit. His brow was still furrowed in confusion and worry.

Seto was quick to notice it, and he was quick to question, "What's wrong?"

His younger brother shook his head. "Nothing. It's just… why so sudden?"

"I hate this place," Seto answered easily, wiping his mouth neatly with a napkin. "Too much people annoying me to the pits of hell." He glanced at Mokuba's crestfallen face, and let slip the slightest tinge of disappointment. "You don't want to come along."

"No!" Mokuba immediately denied it. "Big Brother, I promised you that I'll go anywhere with you. I don't want to be left behind." He paused for a while, before meekly adding as he kept his gaze downwards, "Not anymore."

The younger Kaiba jolted as he felt a warm hand clutch his shoulder. With his other free hand, Seto let it rest on his brother's head. His lips curved upwards into the slightest hint of a smile. "We won't leave Japan forever, you know."

Blinking back his tears, Mokuba reached in to hug the only family he had. Seto held him tightly, as he gazed into the distance. _Don't ever leave me, Mokuba. Don't leave me like everyone else. If you leave me, I don't know if I'll ever consider myself human enough to live._

Seto sniffed as silently as possible, before ordering, "Go up and pack your bags. We're leaving tonight."


	25. Chapter 25

**A/N: my apologies for super long absence! my writers' block lasted me for quite a while ):**  
**but anw, no worries, this story is still going to be updated! [and yes, ideas are welcomed!]**

**thanks alot everyone for your support all this while! i love you all, and once again, i'm sorry for the absence!**

**- fika1603**

* * *

After Tea was done filling him in on what had happened, Suwa was incredulous. As he poked a straw through his second cup of macchiato, he muttered irritably, "Eh, how did he end up so stupid?"

_That's what I'd like to know too_, Tea mentally answered darkly. Outwardly, she reached out for her latte and shrugged. "I don't know… maybe he was mad at me wanting to put things on hold?"

Suwa peered at her. "You sure you don't want me to bash his head in the next time I see him?"

Tea elicited a small smile as she shook her head tiredly at his candid offer. "Nah," she replied softly. "I mean, I got what I wanted, didn't I? To have things on hold. Maybe he was just emotional." She glanced up at a disbelieving Suwa. "I mean, anyone would have been if they overheard their fiancée telling someone else about wanting a break-up."

"Doesn't give him a reason to put you down like that," Suwa argued. "That's just… that's low. Even for Kaiba. But then again, he's Mr Hotshot, isn't he? He's capable of anything."

He suddenly bit back his words, probably aware that he was just hurting Tea even further. However, his brunette friend, even if she was hurt, did not let it show. He cleared his throat, and hastily amended his harsh criticism of the KaibaCorp CEO, "I mean, I just felt that what he did wasn't right. And you gotta stand up to that! Tell him straight to the face that just because he's – as you put it – emotional, he has the right to put you down that way. Saying that you don't love his son as much as his son's mother does… jeeeeez."

Tea forced herself to laugh. Suwa was right, though. Why did she even let Seto talk her down like that? Suddenly, it felt like all of those happy moments she shared with him was just a flimsy façade that eventually came down to reveal just how rocky their relationship was. Were they even happy at all in the first place?

She quickly shook the thought out of her head. She shouldn't be wallowing in misery in front of others.

"Let's talk about nicer things, shall we?" she suggested. "So, how about you? Still busy with work?"

Suwa rolled his eyes. "I have a life, you know. It's not just bank accounts and essays. I go to clubs – sometimes. I go for drinks – sometimes. And uhh…" He looked around sneakily. "I'm seeing someone."

Tea's eyes widened in surprise and glee for him. "Really?"

He pretended to look affronted. "I don't believe this. You think I'm not capable of asking girls out?"

Tea blushed. "No, I mean… anyway, who's the lucky person?"

It was his turn to go red. He scratched his ear unsurely. "You're not going to believe if I tell you, but uhh… ehh…"

"Just say it!"

"Caroline Lobo!" Suwa spurted out before he could help it.

Tea almost spat her drink out. "Whaaaaaat?"

Suwa actually looked disappointed. "You don't like her?"

"No, it's not that," Tea quickly answered, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. "But you and Carol? How did that come about? I mean, she's –"

"Yeah, I know," Suwa cut in shruggingly. "But she's a changed person now? And with her, it's like I get that… vibe, y'know. It's crazy-sounding, but Ti, this is definitely something weird. Weird but strong and… crazy."

Tea was at loss for words. Still, she managed to eke out, "You're definitely out of your mind. Have you even gone out with her in the first place?"

"Ah, well… a couple of times. Sometimes we go clubbing, sometimes we go for dinner. Yesterday I was over for dinner at her house. She cooked for me."

There was a huge stupid grin on Suwa's dreamy face, and Tea was not sure if she wanted to carry on listening to his love tale. Instead, she plucked the standing menu at the side of the table and innocently perused it, while asking out loud, "I feel like eating something. Share with me?"

That seemed to do the trick. Within a split second, Suwa was fervently flipping through the pages of the menu. He evidently had a hard time deciding on just one thing to eat. Across him, Tea breathed a sigh of relief. Not that she was not happy for him, but at this time, she just did not feel like hearing fairytales about love and whatnot. Not especially after how Seto cruelly crushed hers.

XO XO XO XO

Caroline balanced the accounting documents on her laps, trying to ascertain that all the figures were accurate and legit as her hands busied themselves with a nail buffer. Recently there had been rumours going round in the office that some senior officials were embezzling funds. She had a few candidates lined up to be shot, but until she could certify everything, she was going to pretend to be the oblivious boss.

She frowned. The numbers seem to tally, but something still felt amiss…

Without looking, she reached out to her desk phone to dial her secretary on the intercom. Her quizzical frown deepened into an annoyed scowl as the other end rang almost endlessly. Where the hell was her secretary, anyway? Shouldn't she be sitting outside her office and doing whatever menial tasks she was assigned? Caroline decided to change course and dialed her head accountant instead. She threw a quick glance at her watch. Nearly 3pm. Lunch was over ages ago. If her secretary used lunch as an excuse for her absence, she could kiss her job goodbye. Caroline Lobo doesn't need inefficient people functioning in her firm.

After what felt like forever, her head accountant answered, "Yes, Miss Lobo?"

"Morgan, could you send in to me the accounts for the past quarter or so?"

"Is there anything wrong with the tabulations for this quarter?" Morgan had the temerity to question her orders. Caroline suppressed her fuming anger from seeping into her voice.

"Possibly," she replied curtly. "Just hurry up and send those files to me. I want them in my office in half an hour. No, make that in ten minutes. I'm sure the files are easily located."

Before she could end off with some sniping remark at her head accountant, her phone picked up an incoming call. Caroline cut off her conversation with Morgan almost as abruptly as she had demanded the files from him to answer the call.

"Clarissa," she seethed without waiting for the caller to utter a word. "Where the hell were you?"

The caller appeared stunned into silence. After a while, the caller hesitatingly inquired, "I'm sorry… Miss Caroline Lobo?"

Caroline snorted. "Obviously. My receptionist wouldn't transfer your call in to me if I wasn't in the office. Who's this?"

Once again, the caller sounded apologetic, "I'm sorry, Miss Lobo. I'm calling from Seth's kindergarten.."

Caroline's heart nearly catapulted out of her chest at the mention of her son's school. Her grip on her phone tightened as she sought to alleviate her sudden wave of panic. "The kindergarten? Seth! Seth, is he alright? Tell me!"

"I'm sorry Miss Lobo… during a story-telling session just now, he suddenly collapsed and –"

"Where is he now?"

"I'm sor-"

"Look, I don't care about how incompetent you people are in taking care of my son. Just tell me where my son is right now!"

XO XO XO XO

Seto gave up in his attempts to sleep. He glanced at his digital bedside clock. 0200 hours. Usually at this time in Japan he would still be working, and Mokuba, despite countless reminders, would still be up and doing god knows what in his room. But ever since he "fled" to New York last night, he had made a self-promise to be normal (whatever it means) to make up to Mokuba for the past few weeks he had been so preoccupied with his son. One of the first 'normal' things he did with Mokuba was to eat at a hamburger joint the moment they touched down. Mokuba enjoyed every moment of it; Seto was inwardly livid as he forced his stomach to digest what was clearly inferior, greasy food.

Anything to make the kid happy, Seto mused grudgingly as he got up to switch on his laptop. He was breaking his promise not to touch work for the first week they were here, but Mokuba wasn't around, and he had no intention to tell his brother that he was already looking through work-related emails.

A new email popped in. Seto frowned as he saw who the sender was.

Kaiba,

I'm still trying to work on the will you requested. As I told you, it's not easy, and from the looks of things, I'm not keeping my hopes up. But I've drafted one, anyway. Look through it and tell me if I miss out on anything.

Update me if you have any progress that'll affect this process.

Takanori

Seto logged off without even bothering to download the attached document. The mention of the will brought back an unpleasant reminder of why he was in New York in the first place. Seth. Guilt resurfaced as he recalled that he had flown here without even telling Seth he was gone. What if his son suddenly asks for him?

He shook his head to clear the thought from his mind. Seth was with Caroline. He would be fine.

XO XO XO XO

Caroline slowly sat beside the hospital bed, one hand smoothing out her sleeping son's hair. She forced herself to remain stoic as she stared silently at Seth.

"I'm so sorry, honey," she whispered despite knowing full well Seth would not hear her. "I'm so sorry I'm such a lousy mummy." She glanced at him almost pleadingly, "Don't leave me, alright? I know you're a strong boy, and you're going to fight this and win."

The hospital door clicked open. Caroline bit her lip as she addressed the newcomer without turning, "Please tell me my blood matches his." When no affirmative answer came her way, Caroline let her head fall on the bedside in exasperation. "Save my son. Do anything, get whoever, ask for how much, I don't care! Just save my son!"

The doctor tried his best to sound as encouraging as he could, but even then it was obvious it was a faltering attempt. "We're trying to find a matching blood donor for him, but it's going to take time. Stay positive, Miss Lobo. Seth's still in the early stages… He will be fine, Miss Lobo. Trust us."

Caroline gritted her teeth as she walked over to the doctor to stare him down. In a low voice, she hissed, "Don't give me bullshit about his condition. I know about childhood leukemia; I've read about it. You'd better get a donor, doctor. You'd better save my son."

The doctor replied calmly before he walked away, "We will, Miss Lobo. Trust us."

After the door closed behind him, Caroline let herself slump to the floor. How did it come to this? How did it all come to this? She threw a quick glance at her son and blinked back her tears quickly. What had she ever done to deserve this?


	26. Chapter 26

**A/N: new chapter up! and don't worry, i'm actually now toying with the idea about Tea. hehe. thanks to all those who suggested it! xD**

**alright, won't hold you guys back any longer! enjoy!**

**- love, fika1603**

* * *

Despite his best efforts to erase any trace of worry about Seth from his mind, Seto had still found himself restless the entire night. Perhaps that was why he was seated at the dining table and having breakfast at 5 in the morning. He had thought about waking Mokuba up to at least be a welcomed distraction, but when he peered his head into his brother's room and saw the latter blissfully in his dreams, he decided against it.

"Oh! I didn't know you were up, sir!"

Seto turned away from his coffee to nod an appraisal at his housekeeper. The middle-aged housekeeper had clearly just woken up and intending to start her usual day of being the first person to be awake. Unfortunately, her employer had beaten her today.

She peered at the forlorn mug on the dining table. "Would you like some more coffee? I can cook some light breakfast first for you if you'd like."

Seto gave a half-smile as he shook his head. "It's alright, Clara. This coffee's perfectly fine. It's a bit too early to have something to eat. And I don't need Mokuba to be awakened at this hour by the smell of food."

Clara chuckled as she still headed to the stove, anyway. As she prepared to fry an omelette for Seto despite her employer's refusal, she asked over her shoulder kindly, "Mr Kaiba, is anything bothering your mind? You've been looking very haphazard since you arrived."

The young man remained silent. He wasn't as close to Clara as he was to Nana, but even then, he never disclosed anything to the latter in detail. Fortunately, his housekeeper seemed to understand his silence and did not prod about the matter further. Instead she refocused her energy into preparing the omelette, filling up the kitchen with the aroma of oil, egg and herbs. Despite Seto's indifference to her cooking in the background, he had to admit that for the first time in a few days, some semblance of his appetite had returned.

As he waited patiently for the omelette to be served, his mind wandered back again to Seth. He had finally downloaded and read through his amended will earlier on; Takanori had done a fine job of reallocating his assets. But what had been plaguing his mind from then on was not the contents of the will, but the words from people the last time he met them.

Takanori's suggestion that Seto legitimise his own son invited a frown from Seto's sharp features. What he overheard Tea telling Mokuba deepened it. Suddenly he felt his newfound appetite slip away.

"_I'm not leaving your brother, I just… need to put an end to things. For a while. Until his mind is sorted out"_

Seto snorted. He already _had_ his mind sorted out in the first place. He came by with the intention to fill her in about it. How was he to know he had to pedal back on his prior decision upon hearing her words?

"She just doesn't have faith in me," he muttered the conclusion to himself in annoyance. As he stood up to leave for his bedroom, he called out to his housekeeper, "Clara, send the food to my room once you're done. I have something urgent to settle."

XO XO XO XO

Caroline awoke to a slight nudge on her shoulder. She lifted her head slightly to see her butler standing over her, holding out a heavy jacket for her. Caroline managed a weak smile as she took it.

"How's master Seth, Miss Lobo?" Her butler asked rather hesitantly, glancing at the boy's peaceful sleeping form beside him.

"I don't know," Caroline eked out a soft reply. Her fear and worry was evident in her eyes despite she trying her best to appear composed. "I really don't know. All I can think about is how to get a donor who matches his blood type, and the doctors are not giving me positive signs about it."

"I'm sure we'll find a donor, Miss Lobo. Have you… asked his father?"

Caroline froze for a moment, recalling that in her state of panic and worry, she had yet to inform Seto about it. But she replied coolly as she reached for her handbag, "It won't help... He's A. Seth needs an AB donor." She looked expectantly at her butler. "I trust you to look after Seth. I'll be right back."

She threw a last hopeful glance at her son before exiting the hospital room. As she walked along the white-panelled corridor, she rummaged into her handbag to find her handphone. She frowned when she saw the screen: 1 missed call from Seto.

For a split second, she felt her heart stop. What was she going to say to him when he asked about Seth? She was certain he would eventually understand the entire situation, but for the first few days he would be more attuned to blaming her for her negligence. Recalling all her past verbal altercations with him, she should have been immune to the impact of his sharp words; she still find herself fearing and affronted by his verbal torrents.

Caroline pressed a button to ignore the notification on her handphone as she contemplated on calling Suwa instead. But she quickly abandoned the idea once her guilt started to edge into her conscience again. She sighed. She had supposedly been going out with him, and he seemed to dote on Seth as much as her son was starting to adore him. She had tried hard to transfer the remnants of her feelings from Seto to the bank director, but always, at the end of the day, she found herself still staring at the photo of her former fiancé.

Now it was the very same former fiancé whom she was dreading to speak to. If I don't tell him, he'll be more than furious at me, he'll never forgive me, Caroline bit her lip lightly as she ruminated her equally bleak options. But if I do tell him, he'll still be furious at me anyway.

Her contemplation was quickly ended when her handphone rang again. Caroline hesitantly peered at the lit screen. Taking a deep breath, she pressed her eyes shut and breathed out, "Hello?"

XO XO XO XO

"Hello?"

Seto said nothing for a few seconds as he let the dulcet voice float into his ear. It was nowhere like Tea's, but he was convinced he could live hearing the voice for the rest of his life.

"How're you?" Even his sincere attempt at formalities sounded sardonic.

"I'm fine, but…"

"But what?"

She hesitated on the other end. "It's Seth… he's in the hospital."

The news struck him hard. "What? Carol, how the hell did you take care of him?"

He could almost picture her flinching on the other end as she weakly reasoned out, "Seto… I didn't know… if I had known, do you think I would have just leave Seth alone? He's my son, for goodness sake!"

Due more to sheer habit than ultimate intention, Seto snorted at her excuse. "Of course I know that. But he's my son too. If I had known you couldn't take care of him properly, I wouldn't have left him in your hands entirely."

"So now you're blaming me?" Caroline was clearly incensed at his words. Her tone rose up by a notch as she fired, "You call me up, and then crash the blame on me for not taking good care of your son when you don't even bother to ask after him properly! Do you even know what happened to him? Do you even bother to find out? No! Everytime there's something wrong with Seth, I'm always faulted!"

"Caroline, calm down –"

"No I will not calm down! You're off somewhere having a good time with your business, and I'm stuck here trying to find a bone marrow donor for Seth! And I'm failing thus far because like you said, I just cannot take care of my own son even though that's what I've been doing all this while when you don't even bother about him! So yes, go and expand your business empire while this bad mother tries to save her son's life!"

Seto barely had a chance to interject when Caroline suddenly ended the call. His shell-shocked mind was whirring as he tried to register and accept what she had indirectly told him. Bone marrow donor?

Leukaemia, he realized. Seth has leukaemia.

Hurriedly he flipped open his phone once again to dial Caroline's number. He was already half-expecting it when the operator informed him the number he was calling was unavailable.

"Shit," he growled in frustration. Punching in another number this time, he barked his orders into his phone, "Prepare my jet. Now."

XO XO XO XO

Seto stormed through the doors of his hospital, ignoring the star-struck nurses and doctors who sent a polite greeting to him. He was considerably tired – piloting a jet non-stop for 8 hours tend to have that effect even on somebody like him – but his mind was too focused on getting to the ICU to even acknowledge the strain on his physical health. He had technically left everything behind in New York, including Mokuba. Seto made a mental note to call his brother later; he only hoped his brother would be more forgiving of another of his Houdini act.

He glanced at the ICU room numbers. He owned the hospital, but he was not at all familiar with the exact locations of each room. It took him a few more steps and a few more doors to finally reach ward 201K. He raised a fist as if to knock on the door, then lowered it and simply opened the door silently. He frowned as he was greeted by darkness, with the only light streaming in from the corridor of the hospital. He reached out for the dimmer to re-adjust the brightness of the room. What he saw nearly got his breath caught in his throat.

Seth was asleep on the bed, and he looked as calm as he could be if he was sleeping in his own bed. The only difference was that he was hooked up to an I.V. drip with a life support system on standby next to his bed. Beside him, using the edge of the hospital bed as a support, Caroline had crashed out. Her things were all tossed on a small sofa in some far corner of the room.

Seto neared them quietly. He reached over as if to wake Caroline up, but when he saw her tear-streaked, tired face, he stopped. He felt a much-deserved pang of guilt as he recalled his words to her earlier. It would have been a miracle if she wasn't mad at him. Carefully, he picked her up. Caroline didn't even stir when he placed her down on the sofa. Seto wondered how long she had been at Seth's side as he placed his trenchcoat over her to act as a blanket.

_Probably the entire day_, his conscience chided him as he afforded himself a stroke on her hair before he made his way over to his son.

He had barely inched away from the sofa when a voice floated hesitantly from behind him, "Se-Seto?"

He peered over his shoulder. Apparently Caroline had noticed his presence. "Sleep," he told her firmly. "You look like a wreck. I'll watch over Seth for now, it's okay."

It was probably the first time in a long time since Caroline threw him a sincerely grateful look. "Thanks," she whispered. She clutched his trenchcoat more closely as she sighed, "I was just so… terrified when his school rang me up. If anything had happened to him…"

"It's alright," Seto replied quietly. "No matter what happens, we'll face it together as a family… Go back to sleep, Carol."


	27. Chapter 27

A/N: hey guys, thanks for your reviews! finally a new chapter up, but before anything i'm going to apologise for its length because it's very very very very short. but the gap sequencing between chapters 26-27-soon to be 28 kinda makes sense to me, so i'm leaving it at that.

but oh, please don't hate me after this chapter! (laughs)

remember that there's Tea, and she's coming onto the scene soon! (in chapter 28) XD

hope you guys enjoy this! and i'm sorry it's really short! chapter 28 is underway, wait for it!

P/S: song lyrics used in this chapter are from the Gazette's Calm Envy. so yes, i was listening to it on loop while writing this out. heheh.

love, fika1603.

**

* * *

**

[I want to see all of you. I want to love all of you.]  
Please do it for me

If you would love me deeper than those words  
I could believe you just by standing in front of me.  
In the suddenly shown past, it was easy every time we would touch  
Tears are floating in the blank spaces that I can't fill

**Seems like I'm getting melancholic from the sound of the downpouring rain  
Whose dream is this promise in, who is this dream for I wonder?**

Caroline traced the rim of her cup of coffee rather unconsciously. She sighed as she threw a glance at the door leading to Seth's ward. Seto was still in there looking after their son. More like she left them there. But after what happened, it was hard not to.

_He's just doing it for Seth_, she had to make herself admit the truth no matter how she ran the risk of hurting herself. _I still… But I can't live like that. Not when I know…_

She hurriedly blinked back her tears. For a split second, she felt like chiding herself. Her dream had presented itself right in front of her eyes, and here she was, opting to reject it when it was all she had been hoping for. But what good are dreams realised when they are filled with emptiness inside?

"So… have you thought about it?" a familiar semi-authoritative tone shook her out from her stupor. Caroline fidgeted in her seat but did not look up.

"I don't see how this is related to making sure Seth gets well," she responded as flatly as possible. Before he had a chance to reply, she hastily added on, "Give me a bit more time… Please."

When he hesitated, Caroline readied herself to be rained upon by torrents of reasonable and appealing justifications. However, he merely placed a light hand on her hair and said quietly, "I'm serious, Carol. Do think about it."

XO XO XO XO

_**[I want to see all of you. I want to love all of you.]  
The answer is drowning in a smile  
[You don't love, the everyday shadow when it was lost.]  
I embrace them in my arms the more I can't make them disappear**_

If you would love me, even though I threw those words at you  
I could believe you just by standing in front of me.  
In the suddenly shown past, it hurts every time you touch me  
I want to love you to my inner emptiness.  
Because I wipe away my tears so you won't be able to notice them

Seto clicked the door quietly behind him. In what seemed to be a defeated gesture, he slumped back against it. Recalling all the past insults and harsh words he had directed to Caroline before, he allowed himself a small pang of guilt. Caroline was not the best person in the world; she possessed the flaws that he abhorred. But at the end of the day, she was still a woman. He was certain that she was emotionally affected as Tea would be.

His taut features softened at the thought of his fiancée. Ex-fiancée, he corrected himself grudgingly. After their argument, he barely showed it, but truth be told, deep down, he had regretted his hasty decision to end things off.

Usually he would have called her to at least tell her about Seth's condition. But there was no need for it now, was there? After all, he had altered his decision. Whether it was done out of hours of contemplation or out of sheer ego, it barely mattered now. He had lived for his family, or what was left of it. Now that he could be said to have a complete picture, there should be no excuse for him to stop living for them.

Caroline had been unexpectedly reluctant to immediately agree to his words. Even after much attempts at persuasion and convincing, he could not get her to say a definite yes. He snorted. To think that he had arranged his words as carefully as possible before he spoke to her about it.

What had she replied instead? "I don't want to hurt Tea… You don't love me, Seto. Stop doing this to me."

Seto let out a dry laugh. Did she think he had an easier time than her in putting forth his decision? Granted, his mind (and his guilt) kept flitting to Tea the entire time, but he was honest when he said, "I treasure family above other things. Let's be a proper family like we should be. You. Me. Seth. Mokuba. What do you say, Carol?"

He was equally sincere and prepared to be committed when he promised, "I won't leave Seth. He's my responsibility, Carol. Just like Mokuba is. And you…if you agree to this."

_This is the right thing_, his mind stubbornly forced his decision upon him. _What I want Seth to have. So why am I still arguing with myself about this?_

A knock was heard on the door. Seto pushed himself off it and opened it slightly, half-expecting to see Caroline with her made up mind. Instead he was greeted by the friendly face of one of his hospitals older doctors.

Seto scowled. "Yes?"

The doctor smiled warmly at him as he handed a clipboard to his employer, "Mr Kaiba, we'd like your permission to launch a public donation for bone marrow donors of blood AB-type."

"Whose idea is that?" Seto groused, but immediately knew the answer when he saw a signature already penned down on one of the dotted lines. Go figure, he muttered silently in his mind, but he whipped out a pen to sign it anyway.

"Thank you, sir," the doctor gratefully took back the clipboard before nodding encouragingly to his much taller employer. "Your son will be fine. Don't worry."

Seto could not understand how the white-haired doctor could remain so cheery in the face of such an impossible situation. He resisted the urge to throw a snarky remark to kill the smile out of the old man's face. If it was not because that doctor was one of the most experienced in the country…

"Seto?"

He came face to face with the owner of the uncertain voice, and he mustered all his discipline to quell his annoyance from the previous incident. There was one more lingering thing he needed to settle.

"Yes?" he intended to sound calm, but the monosyllable still came out pointed.

"Promise me you won't leave me and Seth," she answered quietly. "Even if it happens we go our separate ways –"

"If I say I won't leave you," Seto interjected firmly, more out of relief that the issue was settled rather than pure emotions this time. "I won't."

She managed a feeble smile even as she reached out to give him a quick hug. "Thank you," she mumbled.

Seto hesitated for a while before he reciprocated her embrace more tightly. "I'm doing it for all of us," he said softly. "We're family, after all."

Even if his mental image of Tea morphed from her smiling face to her in tears, he carefully acted like nothing had happened. After everything that happened, surely this was a much needed sacrifice.

_**We aren't anymore, just hiding the 'goodbye'  
I want to be together with you, crying about this 'goodbye'  
More than thinking back upon, I want to forget.  
And now, leave me in this empty space.  
Don't chase those long passed days.**_

**Don't leave anything more than what's already left.  
"At least..."  
Holding onto this goodbye  
Me, sleeping as I hold onto this good bye,  
and my faint heat that vanishes like tobacco.**

A person that loved the days that won't come back...


	28. Chapter 28

**A/N: hey friends! my major exams recently ended, so i managed to steal time to sit down and do up a chapter (:**

**thanks for all the ideas, suggestions etc. you guys have been awesome awesome help! (: -fireworks and applause-**

**honestly speaking, i'm not a fan of how my story is flowing i.e. i hate it how i tore seto and tea apart :/**

**but damage has been done, and all the more i think it'll be interesting to see if i can rectify this? (this isn't a spoiler hahah!)**

**anw, hope you guys will enjoy this chapter!**

**and**

**Merry advanced Christmas! (:**

**much love, fika1603 3**

* * *

"Any developments?"

Caroline peered up from the report she was studying. She frowned slightly as she answered almost placidly, "Doctors are still doing tests on some of the potential donors. These things are not like instant noodles, you know."

The look he threw her was a cross between a wry smile and a scowl. "You always had a lousy sense of humour." The lithe brunette glanced around the room. "Where's Seth?"

"At the playing corner, with some of the other kids," Caroline replied absent-mindedly, still perusing the documents at hand.

"Other kids?"

The blonde CEO of Lobo Industries released a heavy, frustrated sigh as she glared at her supposed fiancé. "Yes, other kids. Honestly Seto, you don't seriously think that Seth's the only one to suffer from all this?"

He snorted defiantly as he turned to exit the room. "Of course not."

Yet, as he walked down the hospital corridors, while outwardly nodding in response to greetings by the fearful staff, his mind lingered on her words. Other kids, just like Seth... his face hardened slightly. Whatever did these kids do to deserve such suffering…

Just before he entered the playing corner at the end of the corridor, he paused. His azure eyes silently observed how a little girl who could not have been more than three gleefully running around, enthusiastically trying to feed a slightly older boy something she had pretended to cook. She was pasty pale, but her bright laughter seemed to bring a radiant glow to her face. At a further end of the playing corner, he caught sight of his Seth on a rocking horse, playing pretend with a sallow-faced boy his age. Compared to the rest of them, Seth looked much healthier, as if nothing was wrong with him.

Seto's face hardened further as he surreptitiously left as he had arrived.

XO XO XO XO XO XO XO

"No! No no no no no!"

Tea glared at him incredulously. "Joey! Stop being such a baby! A blood test won't kill you!"

Joey shot her an equally furious look. "It's okay, I know my blood type already! And besides, I wasn't sleeping during Biology. O can't give to AB, sorry!"

"You WERE sleeping during biology!"

"Was not!"

"Yes you were! Or you'd know that you're wrong!"

"Eh, I am?" Joey actually doubted himself. His face scrunched up as he thought hard, attempting to recall the chapter on blood type. Finally the answer dawned upon him, "OH."

Tristan cheekily interjected, "Joey actually figured out something. This calls for a celebration!"

"Oi Tristan, who you calling stupid?"

"I didn't say that, Wheezer!"

"You implied it. And oi, it's Wheeler!"

"How about the both of you shut up for once?" Tea interrupted in a half-resigned tone. _Boys, they never change, do they?_ she sighed inwardly.

To her surprise, they actually did. Instead, they were peering closer at the announcement in the newspaper: Kaiba Hospital launches public donation drive for leukemia-stricken boy; $25 000 reward for suitable donor. All of a sudden, the boys were excited to go.

"You know, it's not everyday you get that much money from Kaibanks and friends," Joey laid out his crystal perfect reason.

Tristan probably sounded more noble, "Apart from the money, it'll be nice if we could actually help that kid." He frowned. "Though I wonder who the boy is, though. Poor kid."

"This proves that being rich isn't everything! Money can't buy you health!"

"Well, it technically can since the kid's dad is using money to buy someone's bone marrow for the kid," Tea sent Joey's sudden spurt of moral leadership spiraling downwards deep into the ground. "Anyway, so let's just give this a try!"

"Don't worry Ti, I'll split the prize money with you. 50-50. Don't even leave crumbs for the guy who's trying to pick up my little sister." Joey gleefully looped arms with Tea's and started dragging her away, turning to stick his tongue out at a livid Tristan along the way.

"Oi Wheeler, don't you dare!"

"Dare too!"

"Dare not!"

"Dare too!"

"Okay, halt!" Tea held up her free hand to bring the two bickering boys to order. "I dare the both of you to shut up while we cross the road. Are you up for it?"

XO XO XO XO

Seto strode into the spacious room he called his second home, his secretary dutifully trailing after him with stacks of files in her arms. If Misa secretly harbored any complaint about her employer's attitude, she kept it well-hidden.

"Coffee, Mr Kaiba?" she offered customarily. He declined with a wave of his hand and continued to peer out of his full-length office window at the Domino City 'lowlifes'. Misa sighed as she set the files on his desk. It did not go unnoticed, unfortunately.

"You're paid to do this, Misa," the young CEO coolly warned over his shoulders.

"Yes, sir, I know," the retort slipped out of her mouth, and Misa was slapped with a pang of regret. "It's just that it's hard for me to not be worried about you, what's with everything that's going on."

Her employer actually threw her a terse smile. His uncharacteristic action only served to disturb her further. "You've been spending too much time with Mischa," he concurred almost disapprovingly.

"Well, it's hard not to." Despite herself, Misa still eked out a mumble. Straightening herself up, she regarded her employer kindly, "Are you sure about this, Mr Kaiba? I'm not questioning your capabilities. It's just that… it is a lot of money. KaibaCorp's latest project has yet to kick off proper. And the economy nowadays look rather bleak…"

He merely snorted scornfully at her concern. "I know what I'm doing, Misa. KaibaCorp will be fine. So will your job." For some reason, Seto hastily amended his words the moment he said them, "I only fire disposable, useless trash. Even if KaibaCorp is affected, people like you and Mischa are the least probable to enter the retrenchment list."

"You have a lot of loyal employees behind you, Mr Kaiba," Misa affirmed softly. "Our best wishes are with Seth."

The twenty years old CEO appeared to be struck momentarily by her words, but almost instantly reverted to his cool demeanor. "Thank you, to everyone," he grunted. "Now can you please get the head of the research department here?"

Misa smiled warmly in response. "You know, Mr Kaiba, ever since you found Seth, you've become warmer. I'll take my leave, sir."

Seto pretended not to hear her words.

XO XO XO XO

Tea and Tristan nursed their chocolate malt drink in the hospital waiting area. Every few seconds or so, they would throw a furtive glance at the room where the blood test was conducted. They were greeted by a long queue upon reaching the hospital, and soon discovered they each had the option of signing on as a general blood donor or eventual bone marrow donor. The three of them agreed to forgo the $25 000 prize and settled for the former.

Tristan checked his watch. "Anytime now…" he muttered, counting off silently as he stared at the door of the room again.

"Three… two… one…" Tea joined in.

A loud, anguished wail was heard and soon their tall blond friend dashed out of the room over towards them. Wordlessly Tea handed him a hankerchief to sob into.

"There, there," she patted his back, attempting to bite back a smirk. "It was just a needle, Joey. It won't kill."

"But it _hurts_!" he countered vehemently through tears.

Tristan looked at him in disgust. "You had stitches in various places before, you know."

"But I was sedated and unconscious, maybe," Joey glared at him, all traces of sobs and tears gone. "And I wasn't wide awake to see my blood flowing out of my body into a bag."

"It's for a good cause," Tea offered to lessen his misery by reminding him of his noble deed. "Maybe then all your bad karma will go away?"

Joey just sulked and angrily poked a straw into his malt drink tetra-pack as his two friends laughed at his expense. When they showed no signs of apologizing, he stood up and stomped away towards the exit. Tea and Tristan exchanged looks, allowed themselves one more laugh, before they ran after him.

"Mama Tea?"

Upon hearing the familiar voice, she froze. Carefully, she turned around. The boy who was supposed to be her stepson once upon a time was peering up at her in surprise. Tea acutely noted his clothes.

"Seth? Are you okay? What happened to you?" she asked, rushed, as she bent down to give him a hug.

"I don't know," the little blond boy admitted sheepishly. "But Mummy and Daddy said I have to stay here until I'm all healthy and strong again." He flashed her an innocent, earnest grin. "But I like it here! I have so many new friends!"

"I see," Tea responded kindly, with a reassuring ruffle of his hair. "I'm sure you will be all better soon too!"

Seth nodded excitedly. "Then I can see Mummy and Daddy get marwied!"

The last two words hit Tea like a thunderbolt; the shock that crossed her features must have been evident, since Seth looked on worriedly at her. "Mama Tea?" he asked curiously. "Mama Tea?"

"N-no, I'm okay," Tea stammered. She hurriedly gave him a wan smile, and gave his shoulders a gentle squeeze. "Well, tell them cong…congratulations from me. But you, you must take care of yourself, okay, Seth? You must get well, okay? Promise?"

"Pwomise!" Seth gleefully linked his pinky with hers, and gave her a quick hug. "I want to go play again. Bye bye Mama Tea!"

Even as she waved goodbye to the little tot with her biggest smile, the lead that had dropped in her gut a few moments ago continued to roll and become heavier. She stood rooted where she was as the reality of Seth's words sank in.

Seto and Carol… getting married? She could scarcely bring herself to believe it. Suddenly his words rang back in her ears: You should have just let me marry Carol last time. At least with her, I know Seth won't be hated.

Tea shut her eyes tightly to prevent any traitor tears from slipping out. He's really doing it, she realized reluctantly. He's really doing it… all because I…

She felt a gentle hand on her shoulder. "It's not your fault, Ti. Kaiba just showed his true colours."

"But, Joey –"

"Ah come on, don't try to defend that dumb prat!" Joey barely bothered to hide his vexation. He held out a hand. Tea took it soundlessly. As he led her to the exit where Tristan was, his voice softened, "You have us, Ti. We won't ever hurt you. I'll even protect you. Just give me time to call on my Ultraman brothers."

Tea had to laugh at that, and playfully punched his arm. "You go UltraJoey."


	29. Chapter 29

**A/N: hi guys! i'm sorry this chapter took forever. at first i thought i could wrap this up after graduation, but the inspiration to write only came recently, so... :/**

**anw, thanks for all your comments/reviews etc. 3**

**i know some of you are confused by the proceedings in the previous chapter, esp with regard to how come Tea doesn't know it's Seth. i intended it to be that the ad that Seto & Caroline posted in the newspapers was just a general anonymous piece of news about one of the patients in the hospital. so Tea and friends assumed it was some other equally rich guy's kid and not Seth. until towards the end, of course, when Tea starts suspecting..**

**i think this time round the chapter is slightly longer... and i have a love/hate relationship with Kaiba in this one. (leaning more towards the hate, really. if i were Tea i'd probably just shoot him dead and weep after that. or maybe Mischa should have done that. hmm...)**

**so, the usual read and review guys! thanks so much in advance, and sorry to keep you all waiting!**

**love, fika1603 3**

* * *

The French doors to his office burst open. Seto barely glanced up as he greeted the trespasser. "Hello Mischa."

His Indonesian image consultant stormed up to him and pulled him by his collar. "Why didn't you tell me about Seth?" she hissed.

Seto gently flicked her hands away from his shirt as he replied snarkily, "Maybe next time I should post an ad in the newspapers. 'Seto Kaiba's illegitimate son revealed to have leukemia.' I'm sure all our share prices will shoot up, and you'll make a killing in the stock market."

Mischa resisted every urge to not slap him. Recalling that at the end of the day he was still her boss helped greatly. Instead, she plonked herself in the seat across his desk and glared as furiously as possible at him. "Stop sounding like a failed smart aleck," she fumed. "He's my godson, I deserve to know!"

"It slipped my mind!" he snapped just as angrily. Seeing the shock registered on his image consultant's face, he glanced away and heaved a huge sigh. "It slipped my mind," he attempted in a more normal tone this time. "How did you find out anyway?"

Mischa kept silent as she fidgeted in her chair. "Ah… urm… when I was at the hospital, I ran into the skank and Seth. I found out from her." She eyed him warily. "Why does my gut feeling tell me you haven't told Tea?"

Seto froze momentarily at the mention of his ex-fiancée's name. Diverting his attention to signing several documents he had been perusing, he answered matter-of-factly, "For what? He's none of her concern."

"Eh? But she's your fia-"

"Like I said, she no longer has anything to do with me," he sealed the matter coldly. Despite her confusion, Mischa deigned to probe him further.

"Well…"

"And I would appreciate it if you could address Caroline more politely," Seto continued, as if not sensing her awkwardness.

"Yes Mr Boss," Mischa muttered half-heartedly.

"Anyway, what were you doing at the hospital?" Seto sounded more suspicious than curious, but at least he sounded normal.

"Ehh…" Mischa fidgeted in her seat, scratching her head for a while as her eyes paced the floor. Her employer continued staring at her expectantly. Finally Mischa let out a relenting sigh and confessed, "I thought I was pregnant."

"Are you?"

"If I say yes, will you promise not to lay me off?" she pleaded.

For the first time, Mischa witnessed her boss rolling his eyes at her request. She barely bothered to stifle her grin. It only invited a disapproving frown from him, of course.

"What are you grinning about?" Seto made no effort to conceal his irritation at his employee's and – she can be considered a good friend, right? – private enjoyment at his expense.

Mischa shook her head, letting her curls bounce around. "Nothing," she continued grinning unabashedly. "Misa was right. You've become warmer."

"Anymore words like that and I'll really fire you," Seto warned.

"No, you won't," Mischa chuckled. She gave him a quick head-to-toe glance-over. "A few days without me and you're back to your old boring suit. Boss, you're capable of sharp-dressing. Those tailored shirts and suits are not meant to decorate your wardrobe."

"If you have too much free time on your hands, maybe you can make me coffee."

"I shouldn't have come," Mischa muttered as she got up anyway to request coffee from Misa.

"I heard that."

XO XO XO XO XO

Tea hesitated at the entrance. Truth be told, this was the last place she wanted to be, but her curiosity about Seth got the better of her and somehow her feet ended up bringing her to the front doors of the skyscraping Kaiba Corporation. Property of someone smug, condescending and unfortunately, who she was still in love with.

_I'm doing this for Seth_, she told herself determinedly as she walked through the doors towards the receptionist table. _For Seth_.

The pretty receptionist glanced up and threw her a kind smile. Adjusting her earpiece, she greeted Tea, "Good afternoon. How may I help you, miss?"

"Hi, I'm here to see Se – I mean, Mr Kaiba," Tea winced slightly at the mention of her ex-fiancé's name. "It's urgent. Is he in?"

"Let me just check first, miss…?"

"Te – Theresa," Tea amended lamely. "Theresa Goh."

"Alright, Miss Goh. Let me just check with his secretary first." The receptionist maintained her kind smile even as her fingers worked on several buttons to link her to Misa's desk. Meanwhile, Tea mentally crossed her fingers and prayed that Seto would not be that averse to her presence once he discovered who Theresa Goh really was.

"Miss Goh?" the receptionist's clear voice broke Tea's cogitation. "It seems you don't have an appointment with Mr Kaiba."

Tea's mind barely caught up with her as she blurted out an effortless, convincing lie, "Like I said, it's urgent. It's something that just cropped up. Obviously I won't have the time lag to book an appointment with him."

Tea swore the receptionist's smile hardened a little at her terse outburst. "I understand, Miss Goh," the receptionist tried to reason as politely as possible. "But nowadays Mr Kaiba has been keeping tighter tabs on who is allowed to meet him, and an appointment is now mandatory. So unless you have an appointment with him, I'm afraid I'll have to turn you away."

"Let me speak to Misa," Tea pretended she did not hear the lengthy rejection. She held out a hand, gesturing towards the phone. "Let me speak to Misa, please."

This time round, the receptionist's smile immediately disappeared. "I'm sorry, Miss Goh," asperity seeping into her voice now. "But procedures are procedures, and my employer's orders are absolute. Appointments are mandatory. So for now, Miss Goh, please leave."

"I refuse to leave until you allow me to speak to Mr Kaiba, or at least to Misa," Tea stubbornly stuck to her guns, refusing to budge.

"Miss Goh, please leave, or I'll have no choice but to get you escorted out!"

"Reira, what's all this commotion about?" a familiar cold voice resonated from the lift lobby behind them. Tea froze momentarily as the owner of the voice strode forward coolly.

The receptionist was quick to jump to her own defence. "Mr Kaiba, I apologize!" she hurriedly said, bowing deeply as a mark of apology. "This lady here insisted on seeing you without an appointment. I tried to talk her out of it, but she still refused to leave."

Tea bit her lip expectantly as she glanced furtively at Seto. The young CEO barely appeared to be bristled by her presence, affording her only a quick glance from the corner of his eyes.

"I see," he spoke languidly as he turned on his heels to walk away. "Find her an appointment slot, if she's so importunate in seeing me."

Needless to say, Tea was furious. Dropping whatever apprehension and pretensions she had in coming to his office, she lambasted him, "Seto Kaiba, for once in your life, stop acting like such a jerk!"

"Who are you to pass such judgement on me, _Miss Goh_?" Seto accosted her mockingly. "As far as I'm concerned, I have no dealings with _you_. And as mentioned, if you are so persistent to see me, book your appointment appropriately. Now will you leave my premises with dignity, or do I have to get my guards to guide you to the exit?"

Tea opted for the former, but not without delivering a sharp, parting blow to Seto Kaiba's cheek.

XO XO XO XO XO XO

Caroline said nothing as she pressed an ice-wrapped towel to the mark. She could feel him wince slightly under the pressure, but took no heed.

_Seriously, men…_ Mentally, Caroline condemned men in general to the realm of hopelessness. _Case in point, the one sitting in front of me now._

"Stop wincing," she finally said, annoyed. "If I leave it to you, you won't bother in trying to compress it down."

"It'll go away on its own soon enough, anyway," Seto muttered with equal irascibility.

"Why do you have to say that to her?" As she spoke, she pressed the compress harder on purpose. "Do you want to be killed? You're just lucky she threw you a very good punch to your face."

"Are you going to be this naggy when we're married?" Seto shot back a dour rejoinder.

The moment matrimony was mentioned, Caroline slowly retracted her hand that was clutching the compress. She studied the man seated in front of her carefully. Apart from the slightly swollen left cheek where Tea's punch had struck, almost everything about him was the same as they were five years ago. His sharp cheekbones, the strong jaw, the confident air with which he carried himself in that was bordering on arrogance. However, Caroline didn't dare to admire his eyes. Piercing as they were, she was not sure if she could live seeing the shadow of another woman lurking beneath the azure orbs.

"Done admiring me?"

Caroline rolled her eyes at his supercilious assumption. Deep in her heart, she silently prayed that Seth would not grow up with such a hidden narcissistic streak like his father.

"Caroline, stop doubting me."

She blinked at him questioningly. "Huh?"

Seto eyed her steadily. "I know what you're thinking. Just stop it. I made a definitive choice, and it's my family. Stop worrying about other people."

Caroline's simple answer was accompanied by a faint smile, "Even if you have to lie all your life about your feelings?"

"Caroline, I don't hate you."

"I know that, but I wasn't talking about me," she replied quietly. She reached out to lightly place a cool hand on his sore cheek. "Take your time, Seto. And if you decide in the end that it'll be me, then I'll marry you."

XO XO XO XO XO

Tea made no attempt to remove her sunglasses even after she had stepped into the sheltered comfort of her home. Her parents weren't at home, as usual. Sighing, she reached out for the stack of letters on the desk. A couple of bills for her parents, some advertisements, more random ones, save for one addressed to her. Printed at the lower part of the envelope was the emblem of Kaiba Hospital. She tried her best not to recall the humiliating incident at a certain somebody's office a few hours ago that had been the main reason she was wearing shades even in such stormy weather.

Carefully, she tore open the envelope and unraveled the note inside it:

_Dear Miss Tea Gardner,_

_The staff of Kaiba Hospital would like to express their heartfelt gratitude to you and your willingness to be part of our charity blood donation drive conducted recently. We hope that you will continue to participate in future blood donation drives conducted by the hospital._

_Also, it has come to our attention that your blood type is AB. As you may be aware, Kaiba Hospital is currently in search of a possible bone marrow donor for one of our patients, a four-year-old boy diagnosed with leukemia. As such, we would like to invite you to come for a bone marrow sample test should you be willing to be a donor and have a chance at saving the boy's life._

_For further enquiries, please contact the hospital via our various avenues below._

Tea's mind was whirring. Four-year-old boy? Leukemia? Her mind suddenly flashed to the memory of seeing Seth at the hospital premises a week ago. Her stomach suddenly churned.

_That moron_, Tea silently chastised her ex-fiancé almost sadly.

Picking up the telephone receiver, she punched in the according numbers. "Hello? Kaiba Hospital? This is Tea Gardner speaking. I'm here to inquire about donating my bone marrow to your four-year-old leukemia patient…"

XO XO XO XO

"_The reverse side of beauty, is dyed by beloved filth..."_

Reaching out to her bedside, Caroline tried to rummage for her ringing handphone, unmoving as possible. She glanced beside her. Seto barely stirred. Gently moving his arm away, she sidled out to answer her phone.

"Hello? Caroline Lobo speaking," she answered in a half-whisper.

"Miss Lobo? We're calling from Kaiba Hospital. Congratulations! It seems that we may have found a donor for your son. If possible, could you come over to sign a few papers?"

"Yes, yes! I'll be right over!" Caroline could barely conceal her glee. As she bounded back to bed she shook Seto up. "Seto! Seto! Wake up! They finally found a donor for Seth!"

It took him a few seconds to properly wake up and get his mind working. "They found a donor for Seth?" he asked again, just to be sure.

"Yes, yes!" Seto had never seen Caroline beam so happily for years, it seemed rather unwonted. She shoved his shirt towards him excitedly. "Get dressed. We need to go down to the hospital to sign a few papers. Seto, our son's going to get all better!"

For the first time in a long time, too, Seto directed his warmest smile towards her. "I'm really happy, Carol," he spoke sincerely. "I'm really happy."

Without warning, she gave him a quick hug and a peck on the cheek before running off downstairs. "I know. Just hurry up! I'll ask Roland to get the car ready!"


	30. Chapter 30

**A/N: hi everyone!**

**guess what, this chapter's done faster than i thought! (:**

**thanks for all the reads and reviews, and i apologise for the anti-climax at the end of the previous chapter .**

**hope you guys enjoy this chapter as well!**

**love, fika1603 (:**

* * *

Seto threw a sideways glance at the evidently overjoyed Caroline beside him. "Can you please calm down, Carol?" he muttered.

The mother of his son barely seemed to hear him, or if she did, she pretended not to. All of her mind was focused on her son, and the glimmering possibility that Seth's secret battle with leukemia would be all over soon. Even if indeed the donor possessed the same blood type as Seth, there was no guarantee that their bone marrow samples would be one hundred percent suitable. Caroline opted to eradicate the dimmer side of the coin from her thoughts; after all, positive results yielded from positive thinking, right?

Turning to Seto, she clutched his hand a bit more tightly. "Thank you," she uttered all of a sudden. Seto barely bothered to hide his quizzical look. Caroline smiled wider. "Thank you, for staying by me and Seth. For everything."

For a split second, Caroline saw his usually icy eyes soften. However, as he released his hand from hers and slung it over her shoulder, he was back to his usual nonchalant self, affording only a grunt as indication of a reply to her gratitude.

"Roland, how far until we reach the hospital?" Seto inquired from the backseat where he was seated with Caroline.

His right-hand man cum driver kept his eyes on the road as he replied uncertainly, "We should be there in about fifteen to twenty minutes, sir."

"Can't you speed up a little," Seto complained.

"Sir, last time I overshot the speed limit, you lectured me on how I was jeopardizing KaibaCorp's image as main sponsor for the traffic safety campaign."

"It wasn't a traffic safety campaign," Seto snorted back a correction. "We were sponsoring the traffic police cars."

"All the same, sir."

Seto said nothing. Any normal employee, he would have bristled and threatened with firing on the spot for such insolence, but Roland, being more of a friend than an employee to him, he suppose he could forgive. As he reluctantly nursed those thoughts, he felt a slight weight on his left shoulder. Carefully shrugging off his jacket, he placed it over Caroline's sleeping form.

When was the last time she slept, anyway, he suddenly wondered. In the morning, she was at the office. After work, or sometimes even during lunch breaks, she would accompany Seth at the hospital. Five out of the past seven nights that Seth had been hospitalized, each time Seto dropped by, Caroline would be intent in wrapping up her leftover work for the day while their son slept. It was only today that she decided to head back home right after work, having left Seth in her butler's care.

And then, of course, he had to drop by with a swollen face. Recalling the incident at the front desk of his office, Seto felt a strong pang of guilt. Surely Tea had been there to see him about something important, if she was ready to create such a persistent scene with Reira. Mischa's words played in his mind, "Why does my gut feeling tell me you haven't told Tea?"

His reply back then was curt and simple: she no longer had anything to do with his life.

But even Caroline knew better, didn't she? "Even if you have to lie all your life about your feelings?"

Instinctively he pulled Caroline closer to him. She had been so patient with him, even with his inconsistent vacillation between her and Tea. Even just now at her manor before the phone call came in, surely then she knew where his feelings lay in; she just opted not to notice it. It probably hurt her less to pretend that that much emotion was for her, and not for someone else. Resting his cheek on the top of her head, Seto heaved a sigh. Trying to disentangle himself from this sort of emotional problem proved to be far more taxing on his mind as compared to crafting a strategy to overtake any of his rivals.

On one hand, he really was ready to just spend his life with his small family. Admittedly, throughout the entire encounters with Caroline, his feelings had waxed and waned between annoyance, irritability, sympathy and a resurgence of what he felt for her more than five years back. He wouldn't consider himself to have actually hated her. If anything, Seto had wondered more than once if perhaps he had fallen back in love with her. Moreover, if he chose Caroline, it would probably allow Seth to have a clearer foundation about who his family was. Perhaps now he would not understand how his parents could exist to be his parents without being married in the first place, but sooner or later, when he reaches school-going age, his schoolmates are bound to talk.

On the other hand, Caroline had a point: why should he spend the rest of his lifetime lying about his feelings again? He was probably being unfair to Tea, pulling her in then tossing her out of his life so easily. If Caroline had been patient with his indecisiveness, Tea had been more than patient with his temper. He knew that deep down she did love Seth as any of his parents, and if need be she would probably have volunteered to stay up to look after Seth just like Caroline did. But the question was, would Seth be willing to accept her as a second mother to him? If it turned out he could not, wouldn't it be much more unfair on Tea?

His cogitation ended abruptly when he felt Caroline snuggle closer. He peered down at the face of the woman who had single-handedly raised Seth for the past four years, and despite how she was previously, never once ruined his image as a father in front of Seth. In all her vengeful state back then, she could have easily turned Seth against him. But she didn't, and for that Seto was eternally grateful for.

Out of the blue, Roland's clear voice woke Caroline up, and dashed all traces of Seto's rumination, "Mr Kaiba, sir, we're here."

XO XO XO XO XO

Tea paced nervously in the doctor's room. The results for the bone marrow match were underway, and the moment it is confirmed to be more than fifty percent suitable, Tea had decided that she would have no qualms about signing on the dotted line and agreeing to be the donor. The only thing left now was to get consenting signatures from the other party.

"Miss Gardner, please, do take a seat," the doctor invited her for the umpteenth time. Finally she relented and took the seat across from him, barely hiding her sigh. The doctor smiled at her kindly. "I'm sorry you have to wait this long for them. But I'm sure they'll be here soon."

Tea smiled weakly back at him, doing her best to hide the gurgling pits in her stomach. Firstly, Seto had kept one of the most important news from her: that Seth was indeed terribly ill. Secondly, she was not sure if he would accept the donation offer from her. If she knew him like she thought she did, surely some problem rising from his obstinate nature would crop up.

All of a sudden, the doctor glanced up and got to his feet with rapt attention as he extended a greeting to their awaited guests. Tea resisted the urge to turn around.

"So this is the donor you were talking about?" an all-too-familiar voice sounded from behind her. Tracing the slightest twinge of condescending air seeping through the words, surely it cannot be anyone else except Seto Kaiba.

Tea carefully turned to face him, regarding him coolly, "Hello, Kaiba."

"Gardner," he appraised her, equally civil. Tea thought that for a split moment, he held her gaze much longer than necessary. Or perhaps it was all her wistful thinking, since he almost as quickly glanced away and diverted his attention back to the doctor. "How are the results?"

"We're working on them, Mr Kaiba," the doctor explained patiently. "But there's a very high possibility that Miss Gardner here should suit Seth. If possible, Mr Kaiba, could you sign some papers? To acknowledge and consent Seth to have a bone marrow transplant as soon as the right donor is found."

Caroline had already moved forward, reaching out for the doctor's pen to sign the papers, when Seto suddenly shot his hand out and stopped her. "No," was his cold, monosyllabic answer.

Caroline stared at him as if he had lost his mind. Furiously she tried to wrestle her wrist out of his grip. "What are you talking about, Seto?" she hissed.

"Let's go, Carol," Seto spoke as if he had not heard her.

"Seto-"

"Let's go, Carol."

"No."

Seto stared at her incredulously. Caroline looked resolute than ever in resisting his request. Tugging harder at her hand, Seto repeated himself, "Caroline, let's go."

Caroline's mouth moved as if ready to defend her stand, but having looked at the stern glint in his eyes, thought better of it. Silently she followed him out of the room, but not without throwing a pleading look over her shoulder to Tea.

Even without words, Tea understood what Caroline was pleading: Please, Tea, just do it. Ignore Seto. Just save my son.

Caroline need not have worried. She had already decided and signed her part in consenting the operation beforehand, even before Seto and Caroline arrived.

"Miss Gardner," the doctor interrupted her thought in a kind tone. Tea woke up from her stupor and turned towards him, flashing as sincere a smile as she could manage. "I feel like I have to apologize for Mr Kaiba's behaviour earlier…"

Tea shook her head gently. "No, doctor. There's nothing to apologize for," she assuaged his self-inflicted guilt. "I'm rather familiar with Mr Kaiba's… capricious tendency."

The doctor nodded sagely. "I see. Although, I must add, I find it rather peculiar that he was so… affronted by your presence and offer to help. I don't suppose you've offended him in the past?"

Tea threw him a bitter smile. "Doctor, Seto Kaiba and offending – either to him or by him – are pretty much inseparable, isn't it?"

For a moment, Tea saw sympathy cross the doctor's features. "Well," he started. "If you'd like to withdraw from your donor application –"

"That won't be necessary, doctor," Tea interposed politely but with clear determination lacing her words. "I'm still donating my bone marrow to Seth, whether Mr Kaiba agrees to it or not. I'm not doing this for him; I'm doing this for his son."

XO XO XO XO XO

Seto thundered through the hospital's hallways, dragging a flailing Caroline behind him. When they reached the opposite wing of the hospital, Seto stopped and let go of Caroline's hand. Unsurprisingly, the blonde was not particularly gracious about it.

"Have you lost your mind, Seto Kaiba?" Caroline practically yelled at him as she rubbed her sore wrist. "What were you thinking in there? Saying no to a chance to save our son's life?"

"I don't want Tea to be the donor," he answered bluntly.

"Wha – why are you even disagreeing to such a trivial matter?"

"I don't want to feel indebted to her all my life," he replied, straight-forward. "And I don't want my son to feel indebted to her all his life."

That only rewarded him with a tight slap on the face by a seething Caroline. "Seto, you idiot!" she half-shouted, shaking him slightly. "Listen to yourself! Listen to what you're saying! Seto, we're talking about saving Seth's life here! Seth! Why are you still caring over such things? Would you rather let Seth die than let Tea save him, just so your pride remains unscathed?"

"Caroline.." he warned.

"Seto, please," she pleaded wearily, gazing up into his eyes for added effect. "Please. Please just let Tea do it. If you want, we don't have to tell Seth that it's Tea who helped him. I'm sure if we talk things out to Tea, she'll be willing to keep it a secret too."

"No means no, Caroline."

Caroline fell silent, but stared intently at his face. Being scrutinized in such a manner by someone like her was enough to make even Seto Kaiba to feel uncomfortable. But he pretended as if he was unfazed, and stared right back at her. If it was intended for Caroline to break off the staring down competition, it failed. Instead, she unexpectedly placed a gentle hand on his and spoke softly, "Seto, go home."

"Huh?"

"Go home, and just go spend time with yourself."

Seto threw her an incredulous look. "What rubbi-" he spoke to counter her seemingly illogical suggestion, but Caroline was quick to cover his mouth with her hand.

"Go home, spend time with yourself," she said a bit more sternly, before softening slightly. "And go spend time with Mokuba." She held his gaze steadily. "When was the last time you saw him, Seto?"

At Seto's confounded look, she continued gently, "Seto, I want you to have a proper family. You've been a good father to Seth all this while, but have you been one to Mokuba?"

Caroline's sudden concern for his younger brother was enough to pique his suspicion. "Carol, what are you planning?" he asked simply.

"I'm not planning anything," she said. "It's just that… Seto, we both came from imperfect families. If we are to give Seth his perfect family, I want it to be just that: perfect. Mokuba is part of your family too, Seto. Don't neglect him just because of Seth."

Seto studied her face closely. "I suppose I'll just have to find out myself what you're planning," he concluded. "Although, for reminding me about Mokuba… thanks."

Caroline gave him a small smile as she leaned in to embrace him. "I'm just trying to help you to be a better father to everyone."

For some reason, her words further made his earlier thoughts while he was in the car much more murkier than he would have liked.

XO XO XO XO

Tea watched as Seto lightly kissed the top of Caroline's blonde head before he left. They looked just like… family, Tea forced herself to swallow the bitter conclusion pill of her observation. Even when he was still with her, Seto never really showed that much warmth, did he? The rosy part of their relationship probably lasted for a fortnight at most. Afterwards, she found herself accustomed to his rather unemotional ways. Sometimes, it was difficult for her to have complete faith in his feelings for her.

But why is he so easy and open with Caroline? Her jealousy refused to leave her thoughts. After everything she did to him..

"You're a moron," Tea mumbled her annoyance at him as she turned to walk towards another hospital exit. "Why did I even fall in love with you."

She was quite lost in her thoughts, that she was barely aware of the clack of heels against linoleum flooring coming up from behind her. It took the owner of those heels a few calls to finally get Tea's attention.

Tea resisted the urge to heave a heavy sigh as she turned around to meet the person. "What is it, Caroline?" she asked pointedly. Admittedly, she was probably too envious of the blonde to afford civility.

Caroline seemed taken aback by her harsh tone, but composed herself quickly. "Have you signed the form?" Caroline wasted no time in jumping straight to what she needed to talk to Seto's ex-fiancée about.

"Yes," Tea replied, just as indignant. "Even if you or Seto refuse, I don't care. I'm not doing this for either of your happiness."

"Thank God," Caroline actually looked relieved. At Tea's continued somber look, she spoke again, "We don't have to tell Seto about this. For you to do this for Seth, I can't thank you more than enough."

"Seems like spending time with him makes you a much more nicer person," Tea responded rather testily.

Caroline did not crack a smile. "I can't say the same about him. In any case, thank you. If there's anything I can do for you to repay this favour –"

"There's no need," Tea declined. "Just do me a favour."

"Which is?"

Tea stared straight at Caroline's eyes, in a bid to ensure that the blonde would understand and fulfill the request she was about to make. "When you and Seto do get married soon, take good care of him and his family. Goodbye, Caroline."

XO XO XO XO XO

Caroline was right, Seto admitted to himself reluctantly as he walked through the doors of his mansion. When was the last time I came home proper?

"Mr Kaiba? You're back early!" even his housekeeper was surprised to see him reach home before some ungodly hour. "Have you had lunch, sir?"

"Not yet," he replied simply. His azure eyes briefly scanned the surroundings of his house. "Isn't Mokuba in?"

Nana's smile trailed away from her face. "That's the thing, sir..."

"What thing?" he asked her sharply.

"He's rarely at home nowadays... and recently..." Nana edged towards the coffee table and shakily passed to her employer a couple of opened envelopes.

"I'm sorry I opened them, Mr Kaiba. But seeing that it came from Master Mokuba's school.."

Seto barely waited for her to finish her words as he ripped open the envelope and unfolded the letters. As his eyes scanned their contents, his demeanour darkened considerably.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Nana could tell that her employer was keeping his voice level out of deference to her as an elderly person, but there was no doubt what was simmering underneath.

"I.. it was rather difficult to reach you, Mr Kaiba."

Seto muttered something inaudible as he threw the letters onto the coffee table, but it was evident it was not a string of polite words. Nana could only watch on in a mixture of silence and anxiety as Seto ordered harshly into his cell phone, "Find Mokuba, and bring him back here at all cost. I'm giving the lot of you two hours."


	31. Chapter 31

**A/N: hey guys! thanks for all the reads & reviews! (:**

**finally finished this chapter, so ta-dah!**

**hope you guys enjoy it! (:**

**while i start work - soon - on the next chapter! as usual, ideas are welcome! (:**

**much love, fika1603 3**

* * *

Mokuba lifted his head slightly, then lowered his gaze to the carpet weavings again. He tried hard to rack his brain for any plausible reason, but his fear had overwhelmed the clarity of his mind so much, any efforts to come up with an excuse would probably just fall through. He maintained his gaze on the carpet even as his fingernails dug nervously into the arm of the sofa that used to comfort him.

A few of Roland's subordinates had managed to track him down at the arcade, and hauled him back to the manor. Since then, he had been confined to the old green sofa in Seto's study, with his father figure seated at his desk across him in silence for the past half an hour. For the first time in his life, Mokuba wished Seto would actually speak and reprimand him to no end; having to deal with his brother's furious silence was far more unnerving and terrifying.

"I've given you more than thirty minutes and you can't even eke out a simple apology," Seto finally spoke, his measured voice ironically depicting his level of anger.

"But S-seto…"

"Don't even try," Seto's warned. "I hate excuses." He held up a piece of paper as he continued, "Just tell me why the school had to send me this kind of letter." At Mokuba's confused look, he snorted. "Oh, you don't know? Let me tell you two things I learnt from it. One, you haven't been going to school. Two, you're under threat of suspension." His stare hardened as he probed Mokuba more harshly this time, "Why. Is. That. The. Case?"

"I-I…" Mokuba could only stammer in response.

Seto barely waited for him before he launched into another tirade. "If you no longer want to go to school, just tell me. So I won't have to waste my money on some so-called elite school charging ridiculous school fees."

"Oh, so you can use the money to pamper Seth all you want, isn't it?" the words just flew out from Mokuba's mouth. By the time he realized it, the damage had been done.

Seto eyed him coldly. "So you're pinning all the blame on Seth?"

"Yes!" Mokuba answered defiantly; he could barely bottle it all up anymore. "It's all his fault, isn't it? Ever since he's been sick, you're always with him and his mum!"

"He's my son!"

"I'm your brother!" Mokuba shouted back, his voice trembling. "Or maybe that doesn't matter to you anymore! Since all you care about is that stupid kid. Whether or not I come home and wake up to an empty house is the least of your problem!"

"Mokuba!"

"I don't care anymore," Mokuba replied angrily as he stormed towards the door. "You can ground me for life. You can ban me from school. I don't care. I hate you. And your son. And that stupid woman. I hate all of you!"

The loud bang of the door as Mokuba fled the room suddenly felt like an equally hard slap across Seto's face, leaving him stunned in contemplative and guilty silence. He gazed stormily at the letter in his hand, crushed it and ripped it to shreds to some furious self-chastising melody playing inside of him.

He had never felt so angry, and so useless before.

XO XO XO XO

Mokuba banged his bedroom door shut as hard as he could. Might as well break all the rules now. Seto was probably too furious about him not going to school to even care about how hard he slammed the door. He hurled his schoolbag against his desk before he flopped on his bed.

_Let Seto feel guilty about all of that,_ Mokuba thought furiously, eradicating any accidental traces of guilt that had started to settle in his conscience. He deserves it.

His mind flashed over to his nephew, still stuck in the hospital. Truth been told, despite his abject jealousy at Seth, he did not really meant what he had blurted out earlier. If anything was to happen to Seth, surely Seto would be silently devastated.

_Worse still, he may even revert to his old self,_ Mokuba realized with a sudden stab of worry.

"No," Mokuba told himself firmly, sitting up on his bed. "I'm not going to apologize. It's Seto's fault."

_All his fault, it's all his fault._ At the repetitive rate Mokuba drilled himself with the mantra, he wondered if indeed it was the right thing for him to pin the blame fully on his brother.

XO XO XO XO XO

_"When you and Seto do get married soon, take good care of him and his family."_

Caroline sighed as she pushed a file away. She threw a glance at her desktop clock. Slightly after three in the afternoon. In twenty-four hours time the operation would commence. And after that… well, she wasn't really sure.

She pulled a drawer, and placed a well-manicured hand on a photo frame kept inside. Gently she trailed her fingers across the glass before carefully taking it out. It was a rather large photo frame housing a picture that was perhaps the only one to fit her, Seto and Seth in it. She recalled the incident when the photo was taken quite well; Seth had managed to get Seto to bring her along with them for dinner, and the little squirt had mischievously pushed for a photo with his parents, each of them kissing either side of his cheek.

_He looked so happy, and so healthy,_ Caroline recalled sadly. _I never thought that he could…_

Her train of thoughts was interrupted by the phone ringing. Gathering her composure, Caroline calmly answered it, "Yes, what is it?"

"Miss Lobo, Mr Nagawaki is here to see you," her secretary replied from the other end. "It's regarding the Lobo-NGK IC project," her secretary hesitated for a split second. "Is this a bad time to discuss about it, Miss Lobo?"

Caroline thought quickly before declining, "No, it's fine. Please send him in."

Within moments, a smartly-dressed Suwa Nagawaki sauntered through her office doors. Caroline afforded him a wide, professional smile as she stood up to greet him. Suwa beamed back at her as he took a seat across her.

"Suwa, it's been a long time," Caroline addressed him sincerely.

He chuckled. "Yeah, a lot of things have been happening. I heard from your secretary that you haven't been in the office because Seth is in the hospital. Is he getting better?"

Caroline stiffened slightly. "Yes, yes, he's recovering well," she lied as convincingly as possible. "Hopefully he can be discharged soon."

Suwa gave her a relieved smile. "Thank God," he murmured. He glanced around as if searching for something. "Kaiba won't happen to be lurking around spying on us, is he?"

Caroline had to laugh at that. "No, don't worry," she assured him. "He's not Batman enough to do such a thing."

Suwa snorted. "You'd think he is, what's with that stupid coat that flaps forever even without wind. Anyway," he reached into his briefcase and set a few stacks of paper on her desk. "I'm sorry I passed the first stage of finalization for the project without consulting you."

His partner waved her hand dismissively as she skimmed one of those stacks. "No need to apologize. I should be grateful to you. I come back to work proper today and I'm up to my neck with all the pending reports and data." Caroline cast the documents aside. "I'll read them proper later. Is there anything else that we need to discuss?"

"The second finalization. Once we both give our giant OK, the project can start being underway," Suwa could barely hide his satisfaction that they were one step closer to implementing their long-planned project. "I heard KaibaCorp's project may be delayed."

Despite herself, Caroline snorted. "All the more, that's good news for us. Do you think we'll be able to launch the Lobo-NGK IC much earlier than we predicted?"

Suwa pondered for a while, considering the dates and level of progress of their project. The second finalization was just an add-on to the first one, reaffirming what had been finalized and adding on anything else that might be considered necessary for the IC to work. In fact, if everything was according to Caroline's expectations, there was no reason for them to pass the second finalization now and allow things to start moving by tomorrow. When he delivered the idea to Caroline, she acknowledged it graciously. All that was left was to study the details of the first finalization before penning down for the second.

It took the both of them about three hours to go through the first finalization blueprint, even with Caroline's speed-reading and Suwa's timely add-on explanation. As Caroline prepared to sign the second finalization document, she threw a question to Suwa to maintain the friendly, informal air, "So, are you still teaching at Domino High? Or are you a full-time bank president now?"

Suwa actually sounded glum when he responded, "I'm still teaching, but a select class. Being bank president is taking up too much of my time. Instead of being out there with the kids, punishing them or shamelessly playing basketball with them during break, I have to be civil, entertain and stay awake amidst droning old bank bores."

Caroline felt plain sorry for him. He was right, though; it was the old geezers part that puts a blot to whatever exciting experience her career brings her. She afforded a quick glance at her desktop clock. "I'm going to have to go off for now," she started rather absent-mindedly. "Would you like me to see you off, or would you rather by yourself?"

"Where are you heading off to?" Suwa asked, curious.

"My son," Caroline gave him as warm a smile as she could. "I promised I'd bring him his favourite fast food today for dinner."

"Mind if I come along?" Suwa offered with a broad grin. "I haven't seen him for ages!"

Caroline seemed to hesitate for a moment. "All right," she reluctantly relented. "But just for a short while. You'll have to leave before nine, because…"

"Kaiba will be there," Suwa finished gruffly for her. "Doesn't he have other things to do?"

"Seth's his son, too, you know," Caroline pointed out quietly.

"Yeah, but… never mind. He's not important. Hey, let's take my car for today!"

XO XO XO XO XO

Seto raised a hand as if to knock on Mokuba's door, then lowered it again. He wanted to apologize – in fact, he knew he should – but somehow he just could not. _Sorry is indeed the hardest word_, he thought morosely as he continued standing outside his brother's room, attempting to rearrange words such that he would be able to sound apologetic without saying the s-word.

Finally, he rapped the door gently. "Mokuba," he called out. "Mokuba, it's me. Open the door."

No reply.

Drawing in a heavy sigh, Seto tried again. "Mokuba, open up."

Slowly the door cracked open slightly, and a muffled voice came from the other side, "What?"

"Are you still mad at me?"

Silence.

Seto held back the urge to get cross with his brother. If anything, he probably deserved this situation. Instead, he took a patient approach as he started, "Mokuba, I admit I've been very unfair to you lately. I admit I've been spending too much time with Seth. I won't make excuses for this. But please, don't… don't hate Seth for it. Don't hate Caroline for it. They're not to blame. I should've known better than to neglect you for such a long time."

"More like abandoned," came the audible mutter from the other side.

Seto sighed and leaned slightly against the door jamb. "Yes, abandoned. I didn't go home for days. I barely saw you, or asked after you. I've been too busy in my own world. So Mokuba, can you please forgive me at least?"

"You'll just keep doing the same thing," his brother challenged stubbornly. For some reason, Seto felt a stab of guilt.

"I won't," Seto replied firmly. "I've decided on what to do. Everything will all work out for our family, Mokuba."

"I don't know if I should trust you on that," Mokuba mumbled, but he opened the door wider and took a step towards Seto, anyway.

Smiling faintly, probably more out of relief, Seto touched his brother's hair. "You should. And your bangs. It's getting ridiculously long. Go get a trim."

"Says the brother who has pretty long hair himself," Mokuba said sourly, punching his brother's arm gently.

"I look smart even with long hair. You look like a hippie. That's the difference."

XO XO XO XO XO

Yugi, Tristan and Joey stared in disbelief at their female friend. She had just told them about what was to happen in less than twenty-four hours, and perhaps the very thing that slighted them was the fact that she had barely consulted them about her humongous decision.

Joey was the first one to shoot up from his sit and said angrily, "No! Tea, are you crazy? Do you know what you're risking?" He rushed up to her and shook her shoulders frantically. "Tea! You're on your way to becoming a dancer. A dancer. New York, remember? You absolutely cannot risk yourself like this!"

Yugi was the next one to bolt up, but instead of harassing Tea, he did her a favour by restraining Joey. "Hey Joey, calm down," Yugi half-pleaded. He wasn't entirely happy with Tea's decision, either, but he understood where she was coming from.

"Calm down? Yugi, she's risking her life for snobby bank's son! Surely you've seen how he's been treating her all this while!" Joey was stubbornly sticking to his beliefs, even as he struggled with Yugi. He turned angrily to Tea, jabbing a finger in her direction. "As your friend, I'm telling you, Ti, don't do it. Flappy coat won't even have an ounce of gratitude towards you."

"Okay, that's enough, Wheeler," this time, even Tristan got up to haul his irate friend away and silent his abuses. When Joey continued resisting, he hissed angrily, "Shut up Joey. I know Kaiba's a prat, but saying all of that is just going to hurt Tea, you know."

Upon consideration of the impact of his action on one of his best friends, Joey petulantly relented and stopped struggling, opting to stand silently beside Tristan. Yugi, meanwhile, had approached Tea and asked her kindly to reassess her decision. Tea merely shook her head, explaining quietly to him that she had already signed the papers necessary to authorize the operation.

"But even if I hadn't signed it back then, I'll still probably sign it now," she added. "It's just… I don't think it's fair to punish Seth just because of his parents."

Yugi nodded in understanding. "But I'm surprised Kaiba acceded so easily."

Tea gave a dry laugh. "He doesn't know," she confessed. At Yugi's astounded look, she carried on, "It's just a deal between me and Caroline. When she was practically begging me, I just… I didn't have the heart to say no just because I'm angry at Seto."

Her short, spiky-haired friend smiled ruefully at her. "You're too nice a person, Tea," he finally commented. He gripped her hand reassuringly. "Don't worry, no matter what, we'll be here for you."

In the background, they could hear Joey's derisive snort.

"Just ignore him," Yugi muttered through his smile. "I'll accompany you tomorrow."

"Me too," Tristan called out. Beside him, Joey cast him an evil look and he shifted away slightly.

Tea regarded her friends carefully, and slowly, a warm smile played on her lips. "Thanks, guys," she said sincerely. She flicked a look at a still resistant Joey. "Even you, Joey. I know you're just really mad at me because we're friends, and you care."

"Nice to know that," Joey responded darkly. His eyes darted from Tea, to Yugi, to Tristan, and back to Tea. "Whatever. That's your problem," he mumbled as he stormed off.

Even if Tea's heart felt deeply sliced by his action, she didn't show it. Even if her other two friends could sense it, they didn't show it, either. Instead, the three of them attempted their best to sound as optimistic as possible about tomorrow.

"Maybe it'll help you lose a few grams so you can be a lighter dancer," Tristan joked failingly.

"That'll be nice," Tea agreed good-naturedly with a faint smile. Her cerulean eyes still flicked at the road where Joey had huffed away on. Despite having known him for years, Tea wondered if he would ever be calm enough to speak to her again after tomorrow.


	32. Chapter 32

**A/N: since FF hasn't been allowing me to update this story for weeks (RAWRS), i decided to make a double 'payback' with double posting! xD**

**Personally I like this chapter for very obvious reasons [coughs hint to the first part coughs],**

**and Mischa and Suwa made cameo appearances.**

**And Caroline... well, I suppose she's the character all of us, including me, would love to hate o.O**

**I'm currently at work for the next chapter (yes my friends i'm on a roll!), so do keep a look-out for it!**

**For now, I hope you guys enjoy this double serving from me (:**

**Andddd... voluntary payment in the form of R&R? ^.^**

**Love,**

**fika1603**

* * *

Even Nana was surprised to see her employer hesitantly entering the kitchen of his mansion. As she watched Seto skulk over to where she was, it was hard not to suddenly be gripped with a sense of alarm. Had she done something wrong somewhere? She braced herself to accept the worst.

But the words that came from her employer surprised her further, "Nana, will it be okay if I help to prepare breakfast today?"

She stared at him questioningly even as she assented to his request. In all of her fifteen odd years of service, never once had Seto offered to help in the kitchen, nor asked her permission to do whatever he liked in the mansion. Seto, meanwhile, noticed her stare and shifted uncomfortably as he mumbled, "It's only for today."

"Mr Kaiba… sir… I'm sorry if I'm intruding by asking this, but… did something happen?" Nana tried her best to phrase her curiosity as gingerly as possible. One thing that she was familiar with her employer was that, in these odd moments, he was more prone to mood swings.

"It's nothing serious," he answered firmly, putting an end to whatever hope she might have in prying the reason behind his abrupt change in attitude. He gestured towards the kitchen table-top. "What's that?"

"Oh, I thought of making waffles for you and master Mokuba today, but if you'd like another dish…"

"No, waffles are fine," Seto muttered dismissively, as he picked up a ladle and eyed the batter dripping down into the bowl. "Mokuba likes it." He turned to her. "How do you make it?"

Nana tapped the waffle-maker machine next to her proudly as she beamed. "The machine does it for you, sir. Just pour a scoop or two onto it."

"I see," yet another mutter from the young CEO. Nana watched in half-horror as he pushed back his sleeves, took the bowl containing the batter and inched towards the waffle-maker. Without warning, she grabbed the ladle out of his hand.

"Oh no, Mr Kaiba," she interjected quickly. "You're the boss in your company and the house, but not in my kitchen. Just let me do it, and I'll serve it for you and master Mokuba shortly."

Seto refused to budge. Instead, he insisted on having the ladle back. After much failed persuasion, Nana reluctantly acceded to his request. It was evident precisely what her employer wanted to do. More out of annoyance rather than courtesy, she gritted out an invitation, "Sir, would you like me to demonstrate to you first? So there'll be less mess to be cleared up."

If Nana thought such a brazen offer would be enough to revive the cold, indifferent employer she was used to, she was sorely disappointed again. Instead of firing off some of his classic tart rejoinders, he merely afforded her a chuckle as he shook his head confidently.

"That won't be necessary," he announced as he set to work. For a man who had never set foot into the kitchen, and has his food prepared and delivered to him upon his beck and call, Seto Kaiba demonstrated a rather impressive dexterity in waffle-making. Much to Nana's delight, he did not let drop any stray batter drippings onto the table-top as he transferred it to the waffle-maker. Once he closed the lid of the waffle-maker, there was an unmistakable trace of triumph lining his sharp features. Wiping his hands clean, he issued orders to Nana over his shoulder, "Bring out everything that Mokuba likes, and leave them here. I'll… arrange his waffles later. And if you can make a waffle for me, a plain one is good enough."

"Yes, Mr Kaiba," Nana replied smilingly. With every step that Seto took away from the kitchen, her smile grew broader. With a sigh, she averted her eyes to the ceiling and whispered a prayer, "Kamisama, if you can give Mr Kaiba a chance to live the life that will make him happy, no matter how simple, please grant it to him."

Just as she finished, she could smell the warm buttery aroma of the waffle, signaling that her employer's masterpiece was done. She glanced at the kitchen entrance. No sign of him. As she scooped out a ladle of batter to make his waffle, at the same time she poured in a small amount of caramel. He had asked for plain, but as usual, Nana just could not resist sweetening his waffle a little. If after all these years she couldn't get him to sweeten his personality, the least she could do was to sweeten his taste buds.

XO XO XO XO

Seto re-entered his bedroom and headed straight for his desk, where his laptop was on stand-by. As he flipped the lid open, his laptop resumed functioning. Quickly he scanned through some of the links he had saved the previous night. Having confirmed what he needed, he reached out for his cell phone and made a call.

It took quite some time for the other line to pick up, "Mischa Hutama." There was a pause, probably to check her screen for who the caller was. "Oh, hi Mr Boss!"

"Mischa," Seto greeted back. "Are you tied up with anything for now?"

"Not quite," she replied, but there was a hint of distraction tracing her voice. He heard the ruffling of a few papers in the background, and possibly movement, before finally he could sense the focus in her tone. "Okay, yes, Mr Kaiba, what's up?"

For a split second, he hesitated. In the end, he issued his intended orders, anyway. "I need you to do a few things for me. Since you are… more familiar with this kind of preparation stuff." He could already picture his image consultant perking up at his words. "I've sent you an email with everything that needs to be done. Can you check it now?"

"Hold on, sir…. Ah, yes! Got it!"

"Good," Seto continued. "When can you prepare everything by?"

"Oh my god, a Tiffany ring! And is that a Vera Wang I see? And the upcoming philharmonic orchestra concert! I see somebody's very busy."

"Mischa," Seto interposed gruffly. "Get everything done by the end of this week. The ring, the dress, the tickets."

It took quite some time, but finally the realization dawned upon Mischa, and his image consultant nearly shouted into the receiver, "Wait, Mr Boss, are you getting married?"

"Yes and no," he replied grudgingly, anxious to put an end to the discussion. "Just get everything all done by the end of this week. Is that clear, Mischa?"

"Yes, sir. But… you? Getting married? For real?"

"Mis," he warned slightly.

"Okay, okay, Mr Boss," Mischa relented sulkily. "Your orders, my duty. But… just a word of advice, sir?"

"What is it now?"

"Getting married at this age…" Mischa commented in a quiet voice. Seto could smell an advice coming from his older image consultant. "Mr Kaiba, you barely came of age. Are you sure you're really ready for this?"

Seto snorted at her pointless worry. "Mischa, you've been working for me for a few years. Do I in any way strike you as having just come of age?"

"Errr…. No?"

"Precisely. I know what I'm doing. Just do as I told you to." His mood being slightly ruffled by the conversation, he clicked his phone shut. As he did so, his eyes landed on his bedside clock. Just about time. Before Mokuba woke up and stumbled his way down to the kitchen, there was something he needed to do.

XO XO XO XO

Caroline reread the document her lawyer had hurriedly prepared for her overnight. Everything seemed to be in place. Giving an assenting nod to her lawyer, she handed the papers back to him, permitting him to take it to court and have it legalized upon her command. After exchanging parting pleasantries, he took his leave while she moved on to focus on another aspect of her day.

Picking up her cellphone, Caroline made her routine morning call to Seth. Suwa had kindly offered to accompany him this morning, and Caroline made a mental note to find a way to thank him. It was Seth's 'big' day after all; he needed all the distraction and support he could get. Once she was comforted by the knowledge that Seth was safe in Suwa's hands, she directed her phone call to another individual.

It took quite some time before the other end picked up.

Caroline took a deep breath. "Hi Tea, it's me, Caroline. Listen, I have something I need to discuss with you. Or rather, to tell you, whichever you think it is. Would you mind meeting me before you… you know…"

Tea's relenting answer was stiff and cautious. Inwardly, Caroline sighed. She only hoped Tea would not prove to be the one to destroy her carefully thought out plan.

XO XO XO XO

Tea disconnected the call and found herself with the expectant gazes of her three friends (and yes, even Joey) seated across her. She sighed as she shared what Caroline had demanded not too long ago. As expected, Yugi and Tristan found themselves joining Tea to be fraught with curiosity at Caroline's vague words. Joey, despite him willingly joining them to accompany Tea to the hospital, merely sulked.

"Maybe she wants to give you a gift of appreciation?" Tristan suggested, attempting to be as optimistic as possible.

Tea frowned. "Possibly. But knowing Caroline… Even if she's a nicer person nowadays, I still don't trust her."

"Why not?" Yugi ventured naively.

Tea actually sounded sad as she spoke, "Yugi, the thing about Caroline is that… she's similar to Seto somewhat. Can you trust him even on his nice days?"

"Well…" Yugi hesitated as he thought about it. After a while, he shook his head. "No, I can trust Kaiba in general. He's a lot of things but… untrustworthy isn't one of them."

"Yeah right," Joey snorted in the background, barely audible. He cleared his throat and spoke louder, "But Yugi, you can't put Caroline on the same level of Kaiba. She's worse."

Yugi shrugged. "Yeah, but… Tea, if you don't go meet her, you'll never know what she wants to discuss with you about, right?"

Tea kept silent. Yugi had a point there. Maybe, for all she knew, Caroline wanted to ensure she keep mum about the bone marrow transplant business. And maybe Tristan was right too; it could be that Caroline just wanted to demonstrate her appreciation for Tea's decision to save Seth's life. Unless she went ahead and meet Caroline as they had agreed minutes before, there was no way she could know precisely what the blonde Jean-Paul Gaultier fan wanted from plain average her.

"Yugi's right," Tea said slowly. "I'll just go see her. What's the worse thing that could happen?"

"She getting a well-deserved slap and catfight from you?" Joey helpfully offered with a grin.

"Well, that's not a bad idea, really," Tea responded with a smile. Then she quickly rolled her eyes. "Of course not, Joey! Things between me and her are already bad enough, I don't want to have to add an assault case to my repertoire."

Joey raised a playful eyebrow as he put on his best mock innocent face. "It was just a harmless suggestion!"

Laughing, Tea took her straw from her malt and threw it at him. Joey ducked as he grinned before responding with a straw flick of his own. Yugi and Tristan, despite being in the middle of it all, actually looked relieved. At least Joey was back to normal.

XO XO XO XO

By the time Mokuba bounded down the stairs and settled himself at the dining table, Seto was already seated there, nursing a cup of his usual morning coffee and the morning papers. The plain waffle on his plate barely looked eaten. Mokuba glanced at his own plate, and to his delight, saw his own waffle being engulfed in a small hill of whipped cream, chocolate syrup, candied chocolates and chocolate sprinkles. He snuck a peek at Seto who seemed strangely oblivious to the sweet factory placed across him.

As if Seto could sense Mokuba's wary eyes on him, he spoke casually, "I made sure you have enough sugar overload for the day."

Mokuba broke into a giant grin, and was about to thank his brother excitedly when he suddenly remembered he was supposed to be angry at him. The grin was quickly suppressed and Mokuba huddled quietly over his sweet-infested waffle. Across him, behind the cover of newspapers, Seto afforded a terse smile, slightly humoured by his brother's mock-rebellious antics. After a while, he set the newspapers down and rose, adjusting his sleeves and tie as usual in the process.

"I'll be at the office just for a while," Seto informed his brother nonchalantly. "I'll be back before noon."

His brother frowned. "But Seto, it's a Saturday."

"I know. That's why we're going out after I come back."

Mokuba nearly choked on his waffle. Did he just hear his brother wrongly? His head snapped up to look at his brother, trying to sense if indeed what Seto said was true. At Mokuba's searching gaze, Seto gave him a little smile and touched his brother's head lightly.

"We're going to get you a haircut," Seto announced simply. "And then you can decide what to do with me."

Even waffles with all of his favourite toppings on top of it could not distract nor stop Mokuba from jumping out of his seat in glee and lurching forward to hug his brother. "Thanks, Seto!"

"You're excited about a haircut?" Seto asked disbelievingly.

"As long as we're together, Big Brother, even the worse haircut feels like the best!"

XO XO XO XO XO

Caroline stood nervously at the far end of the hospital lobby. Once in a while she directed her attention to her wristwatch. She frowned for a moment at the sight of a scratch on the expensive titanium, but soon recalled what she was jittery about in the first place. The cold blast from the air-conditioner was not helping alleviate her nerves.

"Carol," a terse but civil voice acknowledged her from behind.

The blonde CEO of Lobo Industries whirled around immediately at the mention of her name. Tea had arrived behind her, flanked by Yugi, Tristan and Joey on either end. Caroline sighed. This is starting to feel like a gang fight, she thought morosely.

"You didn't have to bring your bodyguards along, " Caroline acknowledged dryly. Nevertheless, she gave a pointed look at the three boys. "In any case, I only want to talk to Tea. Not to the three of you."

"If you want to talk to her, you talk with the rest of us," Joey shot back furiously before Tea had a chance to respond.

Tea quickly placed a hand on his shoulder, signaling him to calm himself down. "It's okay, guys," she made her decision carefully. "I'll be fine." She gestured to Caroline. "We can talk somewhere else if you'd like."

"Or your friends can get lost for about five minutes and make life easier for the both of us," Caroline responded, her gaze and tone both laced with acid.

Joey was about to protest, but seeing Tea shake her head, resigned to consenting to Caroline's ill-placed request. When the three guys were out of sight and out of earshot, Caroline handed a manila envelope to Tea. "As a thank you gift for what you're giving Seth," she said sincerely.

Tea accepted the envelope warily, and opened it to see the contents. A thin stack of documents fell out, but there was something unmistakable about where they were from. The header of the documents clearly had the crest and 'The Juillard School – New York City' emblazoned on it. Tea could barely hide her shock, and she hurriedly glanced at Caroline to reaffirm what she just saw.

"This is…"

Caroline nodded. "Yes, admission to Juillard. Seto told me once that this was your dream." Tea looked as if she was about to object and accuse her of underhanded tactics, so Caroline hastily explained, "Don't worry. You got in based on your own merits. The only thing I handled was your application." She reached into her handbag and took out a cheque. "And all your expenses."

"But, Carol, this is… even for what I'm doing, this is…" Tea was simply at loss for words. "How?"

"I managed to glean audition and performance tapes from your high school," Caroline explained calmly. "And your academic records are pretty impressive. And, well… I have a contact in the school, and asked them to allow your admission to be judged from evidences instead of having you go over to NYC yourself for audition. Apparently it all worked well in your favour. Congratulations."

"Thank you… Caroline, thank you, thank you!" Tea clutched the envelope and its contents with one hand, and grabbed Caroline's hand with the other.

Caroline inflected her head slightly, sending her well-groomed blonde hair into a ripple. "Don't thank me for your own talents," she responded kindly. She paused for a while before she spoke again, "And with this, I hope you can stay away from my family. At least, for the next two to three months."

Upon seeing Tea's face paling as the prospects of her words sank in, Caroline made the effort to further assure the one that Seto actually loved. "Don't worry, Tea," she said with the barest hint of a smile. "You gave me back my son. I'll give you back your man. Just let me finish up whatever legal complications there are in having Seth legitimized as his son."

Without giving Tea a chance to ponder and then clarify her guess with her, Caroline slid her hand away from Tea's and strutted off.

Everything should be falling into place now, she mused in satisfaction, her mind thinking back to the documents she had prepared with her lawyer this morning.

Just then, her cell phone rang. She peered at the screen. Seto. Has he found out about the operation today? Suddenly all her feelings of triumph snaked away, and in its place, trepidation inched closer and closer to her heart. Shaking, she answered the call.

"S-Seto?"

"Carol," her fiancé greeted nonchalantly from the other end. "I hope you keep your weekend free."

"Err… why?"

He paused abruptly, before he spoke coolly, "We're getting married."

After they disconnected the call, Caroline didn't know whether to feel excited, or terrified, at the pace things were progressing. She took a deep breath to calm herself down. She had prepared for this. Everything would work out just fine.


	33. Chapter 33

**A/N: thanks for the reviews, guys!**

**and well, i had difficulties crafting this chapter because i was just so annoyed by Seto [RAWRS]**

**but anyhow, it's done!**

**i don't know if it's even possible for me to hate Caroline any more than after this, but i think she stands a good chance of having her own hate fanclub.**

**so here it is, and hope you guys enjoy it! [and if you need any weapons, just feel free to utilise any. i'm thinking of how to decapitate Caroline grrrr..]**

**love, fika1603**

* * *

Seto purposely let the ball fly past, hitting air as a result. Feigning disappointment, he skulked over to the side of the pitch and pretended to not hear Mokuba crowing cheerfully from the pitcher's spot, "Strike three! You're out!"

As he reached out for a water bottle from a tray held by one of his bodyguards (Roland was forced by Mokuba to be the catcher), he could not resist the small smile that threatened his features. _It's been a long time since I had actually done something non-work related with Mokuba_, he admitted to himself as he took a drink.

"Isn't this fun, Seto?" Mokuba could barely hide his glee as he ran over to his brother's side. Roland offered him a drink but he refused. "We should do this more often!"

"Come to the office, do half my job and we can play baseball every week," Seto attempted to joke. Needless to say, his conscious but trite humour fell flat instantly.

Mokuba threw his hands up in the air in mock frustration. "When are you ever going to be able to crack a proper, funny, non-clichéd joke?"

Seto snorted at his brother's brazen comment. "I'm sorry your brother can't seem to grasp the concept of jokes-cracking," he answered morosely. While Mokuba was distracted trying to think of a retort, he snuck the baseball out from Mokuba's hand and sauntered over to the pitcher's plate, waving the ball in his brother's direction. "You bat, I'll pitch. This time round, I'm not going to lose."

"That's not fair!" Mokuba protested, picking up the fallen baseball bat and ran after his brother.

Too late to demand for an exchange. Seto had already positioned himself at the pitcher's plate, smirking with unbridled delight at Mokuba who trudged towards where he was a few moments earlier. Mokuba was a better batter than Seto, but the older brother's pitching skills were at times a bit overwhelming even for Mokuba.

The brothers kept their eyes trained on each other even as they prepared to launch the first throw or hit. Seto let the first blow of the gentle wind pass. Mentally, he did some basic calculations as to where he should direct his shot. He usually could trust Roland with his safety and his life, but after seeing how well Roland played just now, he came to a conclusion that the only time he would not rely on his right-hand man would be in a baseball game.

Mokuba himself was driving all his focus on gripping his bat tightly and keeping his eyes fixated on the ball. He knew when his brother was showing no mercy and when he purposely held back – for now it would be the former.

Without warning, Seto flicked the ball. Mokuba barely registered it in time as the ball buzzed towards him and he repositioned himself well to hit the ball away. There was a rather loud thwack, and to Mokuba's glee he actually hit the ball! It took him a few seconds to finally hear Roland urging him to go for home run before Seto could run and get the ball back. Hurriedly Mokuba dropped the bat and dashed as hard as he could, covering as much bases as he could before Seto got his hands on the ball.

In the distance, Seto had nearly caught the ball, but as he turned around to see that his brother only had one more base to cover, he deliberated for a split second before grabbing the ball and sprinting back. Of course, Mokuba was making it a point to rub in the successful home run to his face.

Turning to an apologetic Roland, Seto scowled. "Roland, you need to sign up for catcher lessons."

"If you say so, Mr Kaiba," Roland responded wearily. "Are we still playing, Mr Kaiba, Master Mokuba? It's really difficult to play in a suit."

His employer was barely sympathetic initially. "Weren't you the one who refused to change out?" After a few seconds, Seto spoke again, "Alright, I think that's enough baseball for the day."

As soon as the words were spoken, Roland could have kissed the ground in gratitude. Mokuba, as expected, still felt that three hours of non-stop baseball action was insufficient. He tried to persuade Seto to play a bit more, but his CEO of a brother only stared at him and reminded him of homework to do.

"Don't complain, Mokuba," Seto warned as they walked back to their helicopter.

"I'm not, but…" Mokuba bit his lip, unsure if he should proceed.

Even without saying it, Seto could catch an inkling of what Mokuba was driving at. Ruffling his brother's hair lightly, he said, "Maybe if there's not much to do at the office next week, we'll come here again for another game."

Mokuba instantly brightened up at the notion. "Seriously? Thanks, Seto!"

His older brother merely grunted in reply. His mind was already skimming through other equally important things he needed to tell Mokuba. _Or perhaps not_, he thought darkly. He peered down at his delighted younger brother. Sometimes it was hard not to hate himself.

XO XO XO XO

Just like Tea, neither of her friends had any idea how best to respond to Caroline's unexpected show of gratitude. If it had been something concrete like money or a gift, it would have been much easier to decline it. But an all-expenses paid offer from Juillard…

"Just accept it, Ti," Joey finally spoke, being the first among the four of them to lay down his opinion. "It's everything that you wanted."

"I know," Tea responded in frustration. "But…"

"Just make sure she fulfils that part of her promise to give Kaiba back to you," Joey continued heatedly. At his friends' surprised look at his outward acceptance of the KaibaCorp CEO, he reddened and hastily added on, "Look, don't get me wrong. I still hate that guy. But I hate it more to see you sad, so okay fine, compromise."

Tea glanced over at her other two friends for further affirmation. Tristan slowly nodded. Yugi appeared rather pensive, though.

"She's giving Kaiba back to you," Yugi started carefully. "But Tea, I thought they were…" He held her gaze. "You know."

Tea averted her eyes back to the food-cluttered table. "Yeah," she said in a small voice. "I thought so too. But maybe she decided to pull out of the marriage?"

Yugi frowned. "But why would she send you away to New York?"

Joey looked at him pointedly. "Good point," he acceded loudly.

Tea sighed in exasperation. "Okay, it doesn't matter," she made her final decision, a fierce burst of determination colouring her words. "I'll accept it. And anyway, if I matter to Kaiba, he won't be treating me like this!"

Joey and Tristan cheered. Yugi looked as if he forced himself to smile. Before they had a chance to celebrate Tea's resounding decision (or as Joey put it in private later when he was walking home with Yugi, "Tea's winning decision to snub that stupid Kaiba and choose what's best for her"), the nurses hurried out and called for Tea. Quickly, the four friends exchanged hugs and hand-squeezing before Tea retreated to follow the nurses in preparation for the operation.

As her three guy friends saw her off, it was hard for them not to feel a tinge of worry for the fate of their female best friend. More than just the risks the operation may pose for her, it was also the risk of Tea sacrificing her own future to save the life of the son of the man who – according to them – did not deserve even an ounce of her affection nor feelings.

"I'm still suspicious about that Caroline woman," Joey spoke out what was playing in his mind all this while.

"Me too," his other two friends quickly agreed.

"Then it's time we find out what exactly she's plotting!" He grabbed Tristan and Yugi each by the arm and started down the hospital corridor. "Come on, guys! It's time for the appearance of Joey Wheeler, ace detective!"

XO XO XO XO

Seth clutched at his mother, shaking his head furiously as the nurses tried to pry him away. Caroline tried persuading him again for the umpteenth time, but her little boy demonstrated his father's ridiculously stubborn streak to refuse being taken away. Caroline nearly snapped in frustration at her son, if not for Suwa stepping in just in time. Caroline practically shoved her son over to him. Suwa gave her a look, but said nothing. Instead, he focused his attention to Seth. _All these months of teaching had better bring me good_, he thought grimly even as he racked his brain to think of a way to placate the clearly terrified boy.

"May I take him out for a while?" he politely asked the impatient nurses, and indirectly, the boy's frustrated mother. Both of them nodded but warned he would need to bring Seth back in as quickly as possible. Suwa grinned in acknowledgement, and led Seth out of his ward, bringing him instead to the seats in the corridor.

He peered at the small blonde boy kindly. "Hey, what's wrong?" he asked softly.

Seth shook his head petulantly as he drew his knees up to his chest, refusing to answer. Suwa tried again, this time round leaning beside Seth and stretched out his legs to assume a relaxed position. He turned sideways at the boy and flashed him his winning grin, "It's okay, you know. You can tell me anything. It'll be a men's code. Your mummy will never know."

That finally got Seth to glance up teary-eyed at Suwa. "I'm scared," he whispered.

Suwa frowned. "Scared? Why? Don't you want to get well quickly?"

"I want to, but I'm scared," Seth confessed, glancing about him. "I wish Daddy's here."

Suwa willed himself to rack his brain faster to come up with a retort that could put the boy's nerves to rest quickly. "Well…" he started, then hesitated for a moment to offer a mental note of apology to both Caroline and Seto. "Well, what your mummy had in mind was that you can hurry get well, then surprise him to see you all well again! And after that, he'll be so happy, he'll bring you to anywhere you want, give you anything you want!"

Seth's eyes widened at his words. "Really?"

For a split second, Suwa felt guilty for deceiving such a naïve boy. However, he kept up with his lie and nodded enthusiastically. "Yeapps," he affirmed confidently, a big smile plastered on his face. "Anything you want!"

Seth jumped up happily and surprisingly tugged at Suwa's hand, pulling him towards his ward. "I want to be all better now!" he announced, as if Suwa had shown him a definite path to triumph. "Then Daddy can take me on all the rides in KaibaLand!"

Seth continued to ramble on about all the rides he wanted to conquer even as Suwa gently steered him back to his ward and into his bed. Even as he was wheeled out to the operation theatre, Suwa ensured he kept up the conversation with the boy, especially as the nurses sought to sedate him. By the time they reached the operation theatre, Seth had started to nurse dreams of his KaibaLand experiences, while Suwa gave Caroline's clammy hand a gentle, reassuring squeeze.

"He'll be okay," Suwa spoke confidently. He turned to face the still ashen Caroline and tapped her cheek lightly as he scolded gently, "You, have more faith in your son!"

Caroline let out a shaky laugh at having been chided by her business partner. "I do!" she assured him. "He's a strong boy. He'll be alright."

"Then what are you so hung up about?" One look into her eyes and he knew the answer. Suwa snorted. "Ah, don't worry. This matter is between you, her, and me. As long as none of us tells Kaiba, he'll never know." Once again, that friendly smile and encouraging hand-squeeze reappeared. "Don't worry, Carol. Everything will turn out fine!"

Deep in her heart, Caroline could only pray that everything from Seth's operation to her impending marriage would turn out just like Suwa kept reassuring her now: fine.

Just before she could lapse back into a lull of comfort, a commotion emerged from behind her. She recognized the voices very well. Sighing, she pulled away from Suwa and turned to face the newly self-appointed detectives and glowered at them in disdain.

"What do you want?" she hissed.

Joey actually had the temerity to puff his chest and stick his head out as he demanded, "The truth! What are you planning, Caroline? Out with it!"

Caroline narrowed her eyes at them. "What do you mean?" she retorted defensively.

Joey marched forward and pointed his finger right at her face as he stared her down. "Stop lying! We know you're up to something… snivelly." He sniffed the air for measure. "I can smell it!"

Irritated by now, Caroline rolled her eyes and turned her back to him, supposedly signaling that she had no intention to entertain any of his accusations. However, Joey was having none of it. Shamelessly he sidled up in front of her and leaned in closer so he could fume out, "Out with it, Caroline."

Suwa looked on, shock and alarm colouring his features. He made to intervene, but Caroline held out a hand. Suwa understood, sighed and walked away, but not without a cautious look to each of his ex-students.

Caroline crossed her arms defiantly and stared back up at Joey. "What do you expect me to tell you?"

"The truth! Why did you give Tea such a huge gift?" Joey asked again, louder and more menacingly. "You! I don't believe you one bit when you said you'll give rich boy back to her! Why don't you just give him back to her now? Why wait after a few months when she's already in America?"

As she tossed her luxuriant blonde head back, Joey can't help but think that it was apt Kaiba opted to leave Tea alone; scumbags should mix around with scumbags. However, he kept it all in as he continued to regard Caroline coolly.

After what seemed like an eternal silence, Caroline finally spoke, albeit grudgingly, "I will give him back to her. But there's something I need to do with Seto first."

Joey snorted. "Whatever happened to rich boy Mr 'I'm the one who's always right and I don't listen to other people'? Why is he being pushed around by the likes of you?"

"I am not pushing him around!" Caroline suddenly snapped. However, she regained her coldness almost instantly and spoke, "You'll know when the time comes. Good day, Joey Wheeler."

"Oi, stop being such a loser!" Joey yelled after her. "If you want to fight, fight properly! Don't ditch and run!"

However, Caroline made no sound of having heard him. Instead, she beckoned to Suwa, spoke a few words with him, and then the two of them were gone from the hospital corridor, leaving a still seething Joey Wheeler to stare after them and Tristan and Yugi trying their ultimate best to restrain him.

XO XO XO XO

"No."

Seto drew in a huge sigh as he put his fork down and stared at his brother. "Mokuba, please. I just want to end this."

"By marrying Caroline?" Mokuba was unforgiving. He threw his spoon onto the table. Clearly his appetite and good mood had been cleverly eradicated away by his brother's timely announcement of his marriage. "What about Tea, huh? You're just going to throw her away after everything she's done for you? And Seth? And even Caroline?"

"What do you mean?" Seto replied coldly.

Mokuba pushed himself off the table as he ranted, "Seto, open your eyes! Stop trying to be all self-sacrificial! You've done enough for an entire lifetime! For once, Seto, think about yourself! Think about what you want!"

"I know what I want," his brother's reply remained as chilly as ever. "I want to solve this problem once and for all."

"No you're not," Mokuba shot back. He stared at his brother incredulously. Whatever happened to the Seto he knew? "You're being ridiculous, Big Brother. Marrying Caroline isn't going to make you happy!"

"It doesn't matter!" Seto snapped back impatiently. "I'm not going to change my mind!"

That led Mokuba to fall silent as he continued to regard his brother. Almost contritely he spoke, "It doesn't matter to you, but it matters to me. You've had enough years of hardship, Big Brother. For once I just want to see you truly happy, doing what you really want, being around people who you really care about, and who really care about you. But if you're going to be the one to throw all of this away, I have nothing else to say."

For the first time, without finishing his favourite chocolate parfait, Mokuba trudged back to his room. For the first time in a long time, Seto found his fillet with foie gras sauce to be tasteless. As he pushed himself off the table to head to his study, his housekeeper came in, took one look at the unfinished dinner on the table and looked at her employer pointedly.

"Mr Kaiba, I don't mean to intrude, but Master Mokuba was right," she spoke as gently as she could. "Don't sacrifice any more of your life way."

"Nana," Seto responded sharply. "I know what I'm doing. Please just trust me."

With that, he skulked back to his study, flinging open the wooden door rather angrily before he flopped himself on the old, comfortable green sofa. _Everything, everyone is getting unnecessarily jittery,_ he thought in abject frustration. _I know what I'm doing._

Just then, his fax machine beeped. Frowning, Seto got up to receive the documents. He waited until the transfer and printing was done before he picked them up. One of it was a note by Caroline. He snorted. _Future wife_, he thought derisively. Nevertheless, he took the liberty to read her note:

_Seto,_

_Before our marriage this weekend, there are a few things I want us to come to an agreement to. Consider this our pre-nuptial contract, if anything. Please get back to me with your immediate approval._

_1. Our "matrimony" is to be merely a legal documentation, contractual effective for one month minimum to four months maximum. Nothing beyond legal binding is required, including accommodation, expenses, etc._

_2. Under this span of four months, or part thereof, the both of us are to handle all legal documentations to allow Seth to be recognized as our biological son bearing your family name._

_3. Under this span of four months, or part thereof, our business empires will continue to function as per normal, on the same basis of rivalry as before._

_4. After the maximum contract period of four months, or part thereof, a divorce should be filed from both sides in less than twenty-four hours._

_5. Upon conclusion of this contractual matrimony, I, Ms Caroline Lobo, rescind Mr Seto Kaiba to Ms Tea Gardner as has been promised verbally between me and Ms Gardner as of today._

Seto had to re-read the last clause, scarcely believing what Caroline had unilaterally drew up. Clauses 1-4, even he had crafted it in his version of the pre-nuptial agreement. In fact, that was the sole reason he decided on such a hurried marriage. He had intended to fax his copy over to Caroline later, but his "future wife" had beaten him to it. But Clause 5…

"'As of today'?" Seto wondered out loud. "Since when…." Suddenly, a distant fact re-lodged itself into his brain, and Seto supposed he had figured out that last part.

Furiously, he took out his cell phone and dialed a number. Before waiting for the other end to answer, Seto blasted, "If you think that I won't know what you're up to, you're going to be terribly sorry, Caroline."

"And you're going to do _what_, Seto?" her response was just as cold as expected. "Their operation's underway. If you could spare it in your heart to be grateful to Tea, I'm sure you can spend the rest of these few months more peacefully."

"Peacefully? Caroline, I know what this operation may cost Tea, and that's precisely why I forbade her to even consider being Seth's donor!"

"And I'm supposed to sit around, rely on you and watch my son suffer, Kaiba?" Caroline shot back languidly without a single trace of guilt or regret lining her voice. "Kaiba, I'm his mother. I raised him single-handedly for five years. I don't need that five months of your presence to destroy him."

"I've transferred him to your custody on my terms, Caroline," Seto reminded her warningly. "I can still revoke it."

"You're treating your own son like one of your stupid cards that you can fling about? Well done, Seto Kaiba. You've outdone yourself. I'm sure that's how you've been treating Mokuba as well, haven't you?"

"What… you…"

"Ouch, did I hit a sore nerve with the entire tossing around part? If isn't any clear to you, read Clause 5, hint hint. Anyway, Seto, I shall have your assent to that pre-nuptial contract. And you shall be grateful to me that I helped your dear Tea realize her dream, something that you strangely couldn't do."

Seto growled, "What do you mean?"

"In the one to four months that we're to be married, Tea'll get to go to Juillard, just like she wanted," Caroline explained slowly, as if she was speaking to a little boy. "You'll make sure that all of Seth's legal documentation are secure. Once it is, we'll file a divorce, and we'll resort to our previous arrangement of custody for Seth, i.e. _with me_. And then I suppose I'm free to hand you over to Tea. That is, if she still wants you."

"Don't fuck around with me!" at the rate Seto thundered, it was not surprising that even the maids cleaning in the next room were startled and dropped one or two crystal ornaments. "Who are you to dictate what I am or not to do!"

"Then I guess I'll just have to supersede your glorious company and launch the Lobo-NGK IC now," Caroline replied simply. "I heard KaibaCorp's is far from ready. Really, Seto, sometimes it pays to do a collaborative work, especially when you want to plan for a mega comeback."

"Caroline… you…"

"Take it or leave it, Seto. It's all in your hands."

Seto pressed his eyes shut, willing himself to weigh the consequences and make his decision quickly. It was such an obvious, well-planned trap. How did he fall for it? To make things worse, Caroline had even worked from the other side, on Tea. If he said no – no, he should say no – all his efforts for KaibaCorp's IC would go to waste. On any other occasion, he can risk that. But not under such economic conditions. Not when his shares are on the verge of…

Suddenly Mokuba's words sprang back into his mind, _"For once I just want to see you truly happy, doing what you really want, being around people who you really care about, and who really care about you. But if you're going to be the one to throw all of this away, I have nothing else to say."_

It dawned upon him then what he had been doing all this while: laying the ground for his own destruction. For once in a long time, Seto dared to ask himself the question he had avoided: Despite everything that he had done, did all of those truly made Mokuba happy? Even for Tea…

Seto wondered if it was possible to even hate himself anymore than this.

"Seto, hurry up, I'm waiting, and the bill's ticking," Caroline's annoyingly nonchalant voice floated in from the other end.

"Fine," he mumbled. Clearing his throat, he spoke louder and more resolutely, "Fine. But I'll amend Clause 1. Minimum of two weeks, maximum of one month."

"Fair deal," Caroline assured him almost cheerfully from the other end. "I'll tell you when the operation's completed. Both your son and girlfriend should be fine, don't worry. See you in a few days time, _shujin_."

As they disconnected, it was all Seto could muster not to hurl his cellphone into the fireplace.

* * *

**Translation note: shujin is japanese for "my husband"**


	34. Chapter 34

**A/N: after this, i think i'll go for a writing hiatus for a week or so. -laughs-**

**unless inspiration strikes and i spam this story with the next chapter, heheh.**

**[or until i stop hating Seto. i'm sorry i made him into such a blockhead even i can't stand typing about :P]**

**Anyway, for all the reviews, thanks alot guys! only 2-3 more to 200! :D**

**so yeapps, chapter 34! i'm pretty sure i can end this entire story by 40... hmm... [and i have another story idea coming up, but that's for another day.]**

**but for now, Mischa makes her dramatic comeback! -cheers- serves Seto right.**

**hope you guys enjoy this one too! (:**

**[[credits to distressedcoma at lj for translating the GazettE's PLEDGE, the song that i was listening to on loop while writing this and snuck snippets of it at the end of the chapter.]]**

**Love,**

**Fika1603**

* * *

As Mischa put the phone down, having reserved two pairs of tickets for the upcoming philharmonic concert, her mind reeled back to what her employer had alluded to her. Married, she repeated the thought to herself. He's getting married. To who? Tea? No, that can't be. Otherwise he'd do a proper ceremony… Her eyes widened all of a sudden.

Just then, her husband noisily plonked himself next to her on the sofa, startling her and effectively ending her train of thoughts. He peered curiously at her, noting that something was playing in her mind, judging from the crease that lined her forehead and the constant tapping of her feet.

"And what may be troubling the great Mischa Hutama, I wonder," he teased.

Mischa was in no mood for humour, apparently, and it had nothing to do with her pregnancy. Still wrapped up in thoughts, she hurriedly turned to Marvell and tapped his arm a few times in exasperation, "Marvell, Marvell, I need to hire you and your boys again!"

Marvell groaned. If there was anyone who could be considered to be his agency's regular customer, it would be his wife. "What now? Another neighbour's cat stolen?"

"No," Mischa responded, annoyed at her husband's utter lack of enthusiasm and urgency. "No, this is something far, far, far more important than whether Smelly Feet knows his way home or not." She grabbed his collar and instructed seriously, "I need you and your boys to keep tabs on Caroline Lobo."

"Again?" he asked, incredulously. The last time his agency was pulled in upon her request to help her employer, it had evolved into some elaborate attempt to humiliate that blonde rival CEO. He was not too sure if his boys would be keen to take this on.

"I'm hiring you, so just shut up and listen to me," Mischa ordered crassly, momentarily forgetting that she was speaking to her husband. "I don't care how you guys do it – rig her phone lines, sneak in as an office boy, as a cleaner, whatever. I just want you guys to keep me informed and up-to-date with anything and everything that's going on in her life. Including her toilet trips, if you have to. Just tail her and report back to me everything." She released her husband's shirt collar and proceeded to make a steeple out of her hands, resting her chin on it as she continued to think further. "There's something odd about all this. Mr Boss cannot be serious in wanting to marry her."

Marvell, despite inwardly acknowledging the task dumped on him, snorted. "Mis, I'm really waiting for the day when your boss doesn't get himself in some shtick every few months or so."

Mischa rolled her eyes. "When your boss is Seto Kaiba, he's bound to get himself in some frequent shtick." However, she almost immediately regarded her husband kindly. "So, would you and your boys be able to do it?"

Marvell laughed as he pulled her closer. "I cannot say no to you," he admitted. "So yes, we'll get to work soon!"

Mischa beamed. "Thank you!" she exclaimed, pinching his nose affectionately before she sprang up from the sofa. "And as a reward, I'll cook dinner for today!"

Her husband's face immediately blanched at the mention of it. Hurriedly he offered to bring her out to some restaurant. However, Mischa was having none of it. Instead, she gleefully told him she had already bought the ingredients she intended to use for dinner tonight, and that she had promised herself to cook for him. Marvell smiled back, and thanked her. Once she was out of sight and safely ensconced in the kitchen, he groaned miserably. His stomach would need a lot of placating after today.

XO XO XO XO

Tea opened her eyes, and groggily attempted to sit up. Her back felt uncomfortable, though. As her mind slowly woke up and tried to register where she was. Wherever she was, it definitely was not her bedroom. The pristine soft sea-green walls, the white bedframe, and the well-tiled floor… she let out a small sigh as she recognized it as the ward in Kaiba Hospital. She was just about to sink back into the bed when she finally remembered why she was here, and would have nearly bolted out of bed if Suwa Nagawaki had not been beside her to halt her.

"Suwa, what are you doing here?" she asked him in confusion, even as she allowed him to make her sit back again. She glanced around. "Where's Seth? How is he? Is he okay?"

"He should be fine," Suwa tried to assure her, but he sounded far from convincing. He gently pushed her back onto her pillow and flashed her a warm smile. "You should be concerned about getting better."

"I'm fine," Tea winced slightly. Suddenly, as if remembering something, she blinked rapidly a few times and looked straight at him. "And you haven't answered my question. What are you doing here?"

Suwa kept silent. Instead, he moved to pour some water for her. Tea accepted it graciously, still waiting for his answer. Once he realized he had no way out of this, he let out a huge sigh of resignation. Gruffly, he conceded, "I accompanied Carol today. And well… since you're here…"

Tea was not too sure how to react to the piece of information, but thanked him anyway. So now even Suwa is in cahoots with Caroline? She thought miserably as she took a sip of water. I don't even know who to trust nowadays… or maybe it's really how all these rich people act. All blissfully living in a masquerade.

"I'm at most Caroline's business partner," Suwa spoke as if he read her thoughts. "I may have feelings for her, Tea, but that doesn't mean I enjoy seeing her treat you like this."

This only served to make Tea more confused. Luckily Suwa caught on to it, and he explained exasperatedly, "Don't accept her Juillard offer, Ti. Decline it. You're already accepted into Tokyo Dance School. It's good enough."

Tea frowned. "But why?"

The way Suwa looked regretfully at her was enough to further drive her fear wilder. Tea braced herself for whatever explanation that would be gracefully hurled her way by Suwa. However, instead of telling her what exactly was preventing him from agreeing to her decision to accept the Juillard offer, Suwa merely handed her a letter.

"Something that Caroline faxed Seto just now, and seeing that I was her confidant, she decided to show me," was all he had to say. Of course, he added hastily, "But she doesn't know I'm here, naturally."

Already driven to the edge with curiosity, Tea wasted no time snatching up the letter to scan its contents. Needless to say, it horrified her. She turned to face Suwa in panic, "This is…"

"Pre-nuptial agreement," Suwa stated matter-of-factly. "They're making a mockery of marriage."

"Never mind that," Tea brushed off the moral aspect absentmindedly. She was more livid at the actual reasons behind all that has been happening so far. "So all of this drama and hurting every single bloody person who cares about him just so he can advance his own interests? Why did I fall in love with him?"

Suwa chuckled. "That's a good question."

Tea handed the letter back to him. Without warning, she announced defiantly, "I'll accept the Juillard offer."

Suwa could hardly believe his ears. "What?"

"I'll accept Juillard," Tea reiterated her stand, eyeing Suwa carefully to convince him of her decision. "I'm going to the States. Seto and Carol can go fix their messed up lives by themselves."

Her former teacher shook his head in disagreement. "No, you don't understand, Tea," he began. "That's what she wants. You to back out on your own accord. Even if she stated that they'll be married for a maximum of four months, do you really think she'll let him off that easily? Especially when Seth has gotten used to the idea of his complete family fulfilled?"

Tea barely knew how to react. She could only stare at Suwa in a mixture of horror and anger. "Isn't she aiming to secretly blackmail him?" She fumed through gritted teeth. "And that moron. How could he be so easily deceived?" Suwa merely snorted but made no effort to interpose in her ranting. "Well, even if that's the case, serves him right. I've always told him not to trust her!"

"And as usual, he doesn't listen," Suwa ended off for her empathetically, sneaking a peek at his watch. "Ti, I have to go. If I stay here any longer Caroline will probably suspect something." At her questioning glance, he added on sheepishly, "I fibbed that I was going to hunt for some coffee that in reality doesn't exist in this hospital. Which is surprising, seeing that this hospital even has a restaurant that serves foie gras."

Tea rolled her eyes. She didn't need to know the reason why. The namesake of the hospital was explanation enough. Nevertheless, she cheerfully bade Suwa goodbye, and thanked him for stopping by. Once he was out, Tea let out a huge sigh of despair. Part of her wanted to stick to her earlier decision: accept Juillard and run. The other part of her – that is, the one that strangely still felt a strong attachment to Seto Kaiba – was urging her to interfere to at the very least save him from being pulled into Caroline's trap.

"But he thinks he's a stinking genius," she challenged her thoughts out loud. "Even if I help him, what are the odds he'll be grateful to me? Arghhh!" Tea sank back into her bed, crossing her arms in annoyance. The line between what she wanted to do and what she should do was starting to blur. Tea groaned.

XO XO XO XO

It was evident that the air in the regal Kaiba mansion was far from grand or elegant; rather, it felt as if a tempestuous storm had stomped through every square meter that Seto Kaiba treaded on. After his phone conversation with Caroline, he had exited his study to discover that his servants had smashed two of his preferred crystal ornaments in the guest business room. After blasting them mercilessly, he had stormed into the living room to see Mokuba leave without a word. Not wanting to put further strains on their relationship, he had let his brother go, albeit grudgingly. When he then ran into Roland, who confirmed with his employer that the rumours about Lobo-NGK Infocomm project already underway and only waiting orders to be launched, Seto's rage had probably reached the maximum scale for the day. Needless to say, when every single employee cleared their way hurriedly for him as he thundered towards his bedroom, Seto was unwittingly grateful.

Seto slammed his bedroom doors shut, barely wincing as the French doors rattled hard as if about to drop off from their hinges. Instead, he headed straight into what was supposed to be his walk-in wardrobe, but had since been converted into his walk-in library. Or rather, his books storeroom. The usual volumes he read were wisely kept in the study, or his office. The less perused ones he kept in here. He paused at the entryway, read the list to jolt his memory and then proceeded to the shelf bearing the appropriate, corresponding Dewey decimal number.

310, 320… 340, he mused morosely, his azure eyes quickly skimming through the titles on the spines until he finally came to the volume he was searching for. He pulled it out, wiped the specks of dust on it with the back on his hand and flipped the cover page open. It was the edition published two years ago, but since no major amendments to the law had been made, this would suffice. He picked up a couple of other books in the other sections before heading to the far corner where he had set up a small desk, an old chair from his study and a mini fridge.

The books landed on the desk with a giant thump. Seto carefully settled himself in the chair, and pulled out the drawers one by one to take out some loose papers and a working pen. For survival's sake, he took out a bottle of mineral water from the fridge. This was the only working space in the house where he did not place any clock. Even for his underground 'chamber', where his mansion's main technological system resided, his computer would tell for him the time.

He opened up the tome on law, scanned the content page, and flipped to the Act about wills. He took his time to read through and comprehend every relevant clause. There must be something here that I can use to get myself out of this rut, he thought stubbornly. Something that Takanori missed, or forgot to tell me.

He exhaled loudly as he picked up the pen and scrawled out everything that Takanori had highlighted to him would be his main problem. Legitimizing Seth as his son was his main agenda; afterwards, who should be head of the Kaiba family in the future and subsequently KaibaCorp's president. If he opted to pass it over to Seth, the main problem would be the public stigma associated with Seth. Seto snorted. People are such difficult creatures. On a more serious note, to take it all away from Mokuba and pass it over to Seth…

"That's stupid and that's not fair," he muttered, ferociously scratching out whatever he had written.

I wish I never had this problem, he groused silently to himself. But what was done had been done; the fact of the matter was that he had a five-year-old son and a marriage he was going to be stuck in. He had considered adoption; he had even raised the idea to Caroline before. Needless to say, his "future wife" strongly objected to the proposal.

Assuming his marriage would go on as planned, DNA tests and a few court orders were all it took for Seth to be properly recognized and rightly legitimized. Four months would fly by. If Caroline abided by her own terms in the contract, nothing much would change. They would still live in their separate homes. Custody of Seth would remain as it was. All that would change would be their status in the eyes of the law.

I'll need to explain everything to Tea, he reminded himself painfully. She'll need to know everything, needs to understand everything…

"Needs to forgive me - again," he muttered to himself. "If she doesn't hate me by now."

Suddenly his cell phone rang, waking him from his stupor. He peered at the number. If it was Caroline he was going to just ignore her point blank. Fortunately it was Mischa. He answered. Before he had time to even grunt a greeting at her, his Indonesian-born image consultant was already flooding his ears with words.

"Mr Boss, Mr Boss!" she huffed from the other end. "Where are you?"

"At home," he replied. "Why?"

"No, I mean, I know you're at home. But where in your home are you? I'm downstairs."

Seto frowned. "What are you doing in my house… I'll meet you downstairs. Hold on."

"It's okay, I'm already outside of your bedroom door. Can I come in?"

"Of course not," he responded incredulously. "Wait for me outside. I'm coming."

There better not be more trouble, he thought darkly as he made his way to where Mischa was: impatiently standing outside his bedroom. He scowled at her, but she took no heed. Instead, she grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him furiously (or as furiously as she could, since Seto remained coolly rooted to the ground)

"Tell me you are not marrying Caroline Lobo!" Mischa demanded.

Seto said nothing, as if that explained it all. Mischa stopped shaking him and stared at her employer in disbelief. Seto shifted uncomfortably. He barely opened his mouth to ask for her assistance in breaking down the clauses in the law textbook, when Mischa whacked him real hard in the stomach with her heavy-buckled Guess handbag. Seto gritted his teeth, stifling the pain, but said nothing.

"Are you stupid?" Mischa yelled at him, lunging herself at him and practically yanked him back and forth on his feet. "Tell me, has my boss-friend suddenly become the biggest moron in the planet overnight?"

"Mis…"

"No, don't give me explanations or reasons," Mischa fumed, finally letting him go. Seto nearly fell backwards from the force. She continued to glare at him, hands akimbo. "It's not to me that you should be on your knees apologizing and weeping. It's to Tea. Or have you forgotten she existed?"

"Mischa…"

"I said I don't want to hear anything!" the newly pregnant Indonesian snapped at him. It was obvious she was livid, and Seto was not in the mood to have an argument with her. She pointed a finger at him, jabbing it with every word she spilled. "You are being an incredible idiot! I heard everything from Mokuba. I want to curse and swear at you to the endless pit of hell but I've ran out of suitable curses for you! Do you know how furious I am? And it's not even over how you treated my friend. It's over how stupid you are!" She threw her hands up in exasperation. "I can't believe this. I honestly can't believe this."

"I played right into her trap," Seto spoke contritely.

"Because you're an absolute blockhead!" Mischa threw the conclusion crassly at him, with no regard whatsoever that in the professional aspect, he was still her employer. Seto, meanwhile, let the comment slide. However, Mischa was in no mood to stop. "So now you're telling me that you're stuck to be married to her because of Seth and she's making Tea hate you?"

"_I_ made her hate me," Seto amended reluctantly.

"Serves you right!" Mischa commented mercilessly. She waved her hands dismissively at the direction of the staircase. "In any case, I'm having Marvell and his friends check up on Caroline. See what she's really after by agreeing to marry you."

Her employer snorted. "Don't bother. I know what she wants."

"Which is?"

Seto regarded her for a moment, before hesitantly speaking, "Follow me." He turned around, held open the doors to his bedroom for her and waited impatiently for her to make her way in. The moment she was inside, 'admiring' his bedroom, he hurriedly got ahead of her to lead her to his book store room and not to his actual closet which no doubt would infuriate her just as much as now.

"We're going to your walk-in wardrobe?" Mischa suddenly sounded excited. However, any trace of temporary glee vanished the moment she saw the truth. She took one glance at the Dewey decimal system list plastered near the entrance and made a face. "I can't believe this. You made it so boring."

Seto shrugged. "I need space for books more than things I wear," he commented. He ruffled through some of the papers on his desk before he finally picked one up and handed it to Mischa. "Here. You can tell Marvell to stop work."

Mischa quickly scanned it and handed it back to her employer without bothering to hide her distaste. "You, why did you get involved with such a woman?" Seto glared at her. Mischa seemed unfazed as she continued, "Isn't there any other way to overcome this? Adoption?"

"Caroline's having none of it."

Mischa resisted the urge to slap his face. "Why do you care what she thinks, Mr Boss? Seth's your son."

"Precisely why she's having none of it," Seto did not look the slightest bit amused. He gestured towards the heavy tomes on his desk. "I've been trying to find loopholes… any clause that I can use…"

"You can always just bequeath your wealth to Seth without marrying his mother," Mischa pointed out the obvious.

"And what, risk my company falling apart in the future because it would be held by my illegitimate son?" Seto shot back snarkily. "I want Seth legitimized as my son, and that's final."

Mischa shook her head sadly. "You're messing up your own life, Mr Boss."

"You have no obligations to help me, Mischa."

"I know," Mischa responded coolly. "I'm not doing this for you, Mr Boss. I'm doing this for Tea. And in case you're wondering where she is – and this I got from Marvell - she's recuperating at the hospital after having helped Caroline save your son."

"She went through with the operation?" Seto asked sharply.

Mischa shrugged. "You know what she's like." She caught sight of him staring into space, possibly contemplating what to do. Loudly she sighed and slammed her hand onto one of the heaview volumes on his desk. "Don't bother thinking of going over to visit her. I don't think she'll be in much of a mood to see you."

Seto scowled. He leaned against a shelf, crossed his arms and continued to assume his thinking stance. Mischa, assuming that her employer had kindly not sat in his chair so it could be for her, took the old cushioned swivel chair. As both employer and image consultant immersed themselves in their thoughts – both towards the same direction but along different lines – out of the blue, one of their cellphones rang. Mischa hurriedly rummaged through her Guess handbag in search for her trusty clamshell phone. She took one glance at the screen, mouthed her husband's name to Seto and answered it. She listened on quietly as her husband spoke from the other end. When he was done, she hung up the phone wordlessly.

"What? The aliens finally decided to come?" Seto asked her sarcastically.

It was Mischa's turn to scowl at him. "I wish, it would have made all of our lives much more easier, since we'd all be dead anyway." She shook her head. "Apparently Lobo Industries are going ahead with launching Lobo-NGK Infocomm project next week. Regardless of whatever she told you."

Seto swore. He moved to interfere but Mischa held out a hand, signaling that she had more to come. "And this is what Syam, Marvell's contact by the way, in the hospital came to find out when he pretended to run into Tea there: she's accepting the Juillard offer."

"She declined my offer the last time," he growled.

"That's because you offered to buy her way in," Mischa added unhelpfully. She hefted the law statue book onto her lap, and flipped frantically through, speed-reading the laws and clauses and attempting to comprehend them at the same time. "Isn't there absolutely no other way?"

"If I know of it, would I still be here?"

"Chill, boss," Mischa muttered, still perusing the book with the faintest glint of hope. "When there's a will, there's a way."

"Idealist, a cynic in the making," Seto retorted tersely at her optimism.

"Well, at least an idealist holds hope. Cynicism is intellectual treason. I'm appalled, Mr Boss."

Seto couldn't help but smile slightly at that. "You've been reading."

"Precisely what I'm doing now, thanks," Mischa rolled her eyes. "And you know what, boss? Your problem isn't with the law. Your problem is with yourself." Seto's death glare only served to whip up her courage to tell the truth right to his face. "You're either overprotecting Seth, or you're just protecting your own ego. Are you trying to prevent the stigma from reaching him in the future, or are you trying to salvage your reputation now, which will for sure be tarnished if news leak out that he's your son not by marriage?" She got up abruptly and shoved the law tome back at him. "Go figure it out yourself, Mr Kaiba. And when you're ready to make amends left right back front centre, you can always call me."

Without waiting for any word of defence from her employer, Mischa gathered her belongings and left, leaving Seto staring after her and pondering the impact that her words had on him.

XO XO XO XO

Tea penned her signature to the Juillard acceptance form. After everything that had happened between her and Seto, after all the lies, all the tears… perhaps this would be for the best.

**_Our days were buried in small lies_**

**_In order to avoid these doubts_**

**_Our hearts must know the meaning of losing each other_**

**_This second winter is standing still_**

**_The small lies change their shapes and dissolve into a white breath of air_**

**_So that we won't forget the meaning of losing each other_**

**_It doesn't matter how many times it has to be carved into my heart_**

**_I leave this "goodbye" right here and move forward_**

**_I won't lose you once again_**

**_~ PLEDGE by the GazettE_**


	35. Chapter 35

**A/N: guess what? i suck at disciplining myself for hiatus xD**

**anw, thanks again for all your reads, views and reviews (finally reached 200)! -claps for all of you-**

**by the time i finished this chapter, i felt pretty bad for everyone (except Caroline, who i omitted in this one. -huge sigh of relief-)**

**or maybe it was due to me listening to a few well-played piano arrangements on youtube [naototan's Eternal, TDAMeiMei's Love in Snow, NY210911's forbidden lover + Kasou + Jyojyoushi] that both somehow aided this chapter to flow and got me in the mood...**

**okay, i'm nervous for myself and this story's ending by now -laughs- **

**but in any case, i hope you guys will enjoy this chapter as much as you guys did the previous ones,**

**and a HUGE THANK YOU in advance to everyone who had supported me in this fic all this while.**

**you guys are awesome, i love you all! -hugs-**

**so without further ado, here is Scars Are The Notes of Love Chapter 35, just for all of you (:**

**Love,**

**Fika1603**

* * *

Tea placed the last of her blouse into her suitcase. She stared at her luggage uncertainly. Was she doing the right thing? Despite Suwa's warning – and the other half of her heart urging her to retract her decision – she had gone ahead to accept Caroline's "thank you gift", Juillard admission, expenses and all. Even her flight ticket had been kindly booked for her – Saturday afternoon. Two days away. By then, she would have landed in the Big Apple, ready to start her life anew.

_And for Seto to start his new life Caroline_, she added on rather miserably as she latched her suitcase shut. _I hope he's much happier living his life with her despite everything he's promised me._

The door to her room creaked open, and her mother peeked her head in. Tea turned around to flash her a warm, reassuring smile. Her mother smiled back, and stepped into the bedroom, panning her eyes across the much reduced heap of stuff in Tea's room.

"Well, I never thought I'd see this room so empty," Mrs Gardner remarked.

"You seem to sound pleased that I'll be gone," Tea teased.

Her mother laughed as she placed an arm around her daughter's shoulders. "I wish I could say that," she said ruefully. "My only daughter, leaving home. What would I ever do alone in this house with your father?"

"Mum, I'm just going overseas to study," Tea laughed. "I'll be back every vacation. Save all this sighing for when I really do leave the house."

"And oh, talking about that, whatever happened to that boyfriend of yours? You know, that tall, handsome young man. What was his name again? Seto Kaiba, was it?"

"Yes," Tea muttered, eager to steer the coversation topic away from her destroyed love life. "But he's no longer my boyfriend. And I don't care what happens to him." Okay, that was a lie, but her mother did not need to know. She hurriedly took the cue to refocus the conversation back to her imminent departure for New York. "Anyway, just now Joey called me. He, Tristan, Yugi and Serenity are going to send me off. Will it be okay if they come over first, then Dad drives us all over?"

Mrs Gardner thought it over for a while. In addition to her, her husband and Tea, that would make the head count to seven. She frowned at her daughter, "Can your father's car fit all seven of us plus your luggage?"

Tea seemed amused at the thought of squashing all her friends into her father's MPV. "Well," she declared happily. "We can always tie Joey to the top of the car. I'm sure he'll help in clearing traffic from our path."

Mrs Gardner could not help but laugh at the ridiculous notion. She patted Tea's shoulder's gently. "Well, I'll leave you to finish up your packing. I'll call you again once dinner is ready."

Tea nodded and smiled back in gratitude to her mother. Once her mother was out and had closed the bedroom door behind her, the smile slowly slipped from her features. Tea let herself slump onto her suitcase. Everyone was genuinely happy for her. But why was her heart not sharing in the joy of having her childhood dream fulfilled?

She gingerly pulled out the drawer from her bedside table, and picked up an oblong object still wrapped in black jacquard. She tugged lightly at the ribbon, and the cloth fell apart to reveal a wooden rectangular box with butterfly motifs on it. She swallowed hard. It was the first gift he had given to her. Back then, despite his ego, she had been certain that deep down he was a normal, sensible guy who treasure and appreciate things that deserved such sentimental value. For some reason, it led to something of a whirlwind romance. Like a covered up, badly done cake, it lulled her with all the wonderful times on the surface, until she reached deeper into its core, and all that was left was a bitter aftertaste in her mouth. Within the months they had been together, she had peeled off layers of new truths and old lies; got herself stuck in some lost, sticky bubble that refused to leave; and now, when she finally got to the epicenter of it, found herself face to face with a burnt heart. At times like these, any reprieve seemed welcome. Unfortunately, Caroline was the one who offered her a way out.

_Things shouldn't have been this way,_ Tea commiserated, gently tracing the butterflies on the wooden case. _You shouldn't have let it be this way… why, Seto? Who was the mistake, me or her?_

Blinking back tears, she flipped open the lid of the wooden case and took out a stationary set that she had kept in it. She had intended to use it for another purpose, but since Seto was going ahead with it but not with her…

"Might as well use it for the last time," she told herself quietly as she uncapped her pen.

XO XO XO XO

Seto stepped into Mokuba's empty room and closed the door quietly behind him. He gazed around at his brother's room interior. During the previous renovation Mokuba had requested for quite a few changes. The showy four-poster bed had given way to a more practical single bed, naturally, to make more space for his brother's work-and-play area. Sighing quietly, Seto lowered himself on the bed, and gently laid on his back, staring at the unchanged high ceiling.

Ever since their argument, Mokuba was rarely at home. Initially he was worried if Mokuba went back to his short-term errant ways. But having found out from Roland that his younger brother was instead spending time in school, Seto felt slightly relieved. Tanaka Academy had hostels for full-time Academy residents, but also had a block entirely dedicated for students who opted to stay for one or two days. Knowing that his brother 'running away from home' this time round saw him ending up within the school's protected grounds, it was one less cause of concern to be burdened by his mind.

He never thought he would feel this, or even admit it to himself, but living all alone in the mansion and knowing that most of the people who cared about him were pretty much hurt by his decision… It was enough to make even the most egocentric of men to confess their loneliness.

He picked up a rather large Blue Eyes White Dragon stuffed toy from his brother's bed and absentmindedly balanced it on his stomach. He had tried his best to ensure the design was as realistic as possible, but Mokuba had unhelpfully suggested that kids would prefer the Toon version. He had violently objected at first, then grudgingly relented after much persuasion by his brother. Now, staring at the stuffed toy, Seto suddenly realized just how important his brother had been to him. In essence, Mokuba had been his pillar, both in his business world and his personal life. Now that he thought about it, despite all the stupid troubles he encountered in the office, his biggest source of comfort was knowing that he had a home to go back to. He had Mokuba.

"And I'm throwing him away for a bunch of people that had just entered or re-entered my life recently," Seto might as well disparage himself while he was at it. "Life was so much better, so much easier when it was just the two of us." He pressed his eyes shut as he clutched the toy dragon tighter. "It's all my fault."

He sat up, and repositioned the Blue Eyes White Dragon stuffed toy to its original position. If Mokuba could bear to leave one of his favourite items he tend to link to Seto behind, Seto could barely imagine how much his brother must resent him currently. He flung open the French doors to the balcony and strolled towards the balustrade, resting himself against it. He let the soft, cool wind tousle his hair. For some reason, it felt more melancholic than refreshing. Even the stars' soft twinkle gave off the same vibe.

Less than thirty hours to Saturday now. He had been pondering Mischa's words, and with barely more than one day to go, he still could not bring himself to admit guilty to either of her charges. Was he overly protective of Seth? Perhaps. Was he protective of his own image? At the same time, yes he was. He had to be; nothing was more crucial than image in his world.

He thought back to Seth. Caroline had only called him up once, to inform him that Seth was well. She had offered to let him speak to his son, but he had coldly declined. He issued a mental apology to his son. Another person he had wrongly hurt.

His thoughts then flitted to Tea. Supportive, patient Tea. Despite all his newly-revealed background, from Caroline to Seth, she had always been there. Even when he treated her icily, despite having been obviously hurt, she still stood by him in her non-obtrusive ways. She had held his hand when he was lost. She had lent her arms when he was just too exhausted to carry on. He had promised to take care of her, didn't he, when he went over to her house to ask for her hand formally?

_This sad feeling in my heart is…_ Seto thought to himself, resting his face on his arms. _What have I done…_

For the first time, watched over mercilessly by the starlit sky, Seto Kaiba acknowledged the bitter, painful taste of loneliness.

XO XO XO XO

Yugi hurried into Burger World, tip-toeing slightly as he scanned the customers for a familiar face. His search was cut short when Mischa practically leapt from her seat and waved frantically at him. Yugi wasted no time to get to where she was.

"Hi Mischa," he greeted, half-amazed by two full trays of French fries already set on the table.

"Yugi!" Mischa greeted back, waving him over to sit across her. She gestured happily at the food on the table. "Take as much fries as you want. I don't think baby can really gorge on all of that."

Yugi squinted at her suspiciously. "Baby?" he repeated.

Mischa grinned as she patted her tummy proudly. "Pregnant," she announced. "And sadly he takes after the appetite of his father. I swear I will turn Marvell anti-fast food one day. Anyway," she paused to pop a few fries into her mouth. "That's not why I called you up here today. I'm here to talk about…" She lowered her voice slightly. "You know, Tea."

Yugi's face lost all trace of cheerfulness as he said seriously, "She's adamant on going. She's leaving in tomorrow."

"I know," Mischa replied in frustration. "And Mr Boss is still sulking away in his office refusing to talk to me about anything even if it's about KaibaCorp."

"He is?" Yugi sounded more concerned than surprised at such a description of his fellow duelist.

Mischa was quick to clarify the weird image she had just conjured up, "Not really sulking _sulking_. But you know, entering the office in a bad mood every single day, being much more OCD than usual, snapping at employees more frequently. And oh – I tried to tell Mokuba about this but for some reason that little guy just doesn't sound bothered or he's just mad at his brother again – apparently Mr Kaiba's not eating."

Yugi found it hard to sympathize with the KaibaCorp CEO, since his current predicament was the direct result of his unilateral decision to not only end things with Tea, but also to marry Caroline. Nevertheless, Yugi still hated to see Kaiba in such a state. Worse still, even Mokuba sounded like he wanted nothing to do with his brother.

Mischa stabbed her drink with her straw and wailed, "Yugi, what am I supposed to do? I want to help Mr Boss, I want to help Tea, I want to help Mokuba but all of them are being _such_ obstinate mules I have no more energy to drag them back."

"I tried to persuade Tea to re-think her Juillard decision," Yugi confessed about his feeble, failed attempt.

"And she still accepted it. Why? Yugi, it's obviously a perfect separation ploy by that stupid Caroline Lobo. 1445 hours, Tea boards the plane to New York. 1445 hours, she and Mr Boss tie the Gordian knot. Look, even I know that before Marvell came back home to tell me about his findings. It's common sense."

"In things like these, common sense tends to get thrown out of the window," Yugi mused.

"I wish I can throw _them_ out of the window," Mischa fumed. Yugi felt sorry for the fries that were unwittingly crushed in her clenched fist. "I cannot stand by and watch Mr Boss and Tea mess up their own lives. Especially Mr Boss. Marrying Caroline out of all wretched women in the world!" She regarded Yugi severely. "You'll need to help me, Yugi. We need to put a stop to… all of this. Mr Boss marrying. Tea leaving."

"But how?"

Mischa sighed. "That, Yugi, is the reason why I called you down here, with two full trays of French fries to spare. We only have twenty-four hours. We'll need to think. And act. Fast."

XO XO XO XO

Having rejected the incoming call for the umpteenth time, Mokuba gave up and just switched his phone off. Part of him felt bad for avoiding his brother so blatantly. However, he still could not bring himself to even speak to Seto over the phone. Everything was just too much. He was used to having his brother call all the shots, sometimes without consulting him. But that was in the past. That was when Mokuba could accept that he was too young to understand anything or be in charge of anything, and that Seto as his brother and father lumped into one would know what was best for them. Now, things were different. Seto could not always claim to know everything that was best for the both of them. Sometimes, it took someone else to point out what was best for him. Mokuba had tried on so many occasions. But what had it led to? Seto wouldn't even listen.

Despite all of this, Mokuba had to admit, when Mischa had called him up several times frantically to tell him about Seto's condition, he had been scared, he had been worried. His first instinct was to reach for the speed-dial and contact Seto immediately. But once he recalled what his brother did, and why he had decided to seek refuge in his school, he resisted the instinct. Nevertheless, it did not stop him from wondering how Seto was coping.

Mischa had said Seto had not been eating. Mokuba could have bet all his money that Seto was probably not sleeping too. Usually, he would have been the one to harass his brother to give in to his human side and get a proper night's sleep and a full meal.

_Back then Seto used to listen to me, at least,_ he thought. _Even if he didn't do it for himself, he did it for me. But now, it's all about Seth. Seth. Seth. It's like I don't matter anymore._

Mokuba opened his locket and stared at the photo of brother. He missed the old Seto. Even if he was outwardly crass and arrogant, Mokuba could at least take comfort in the fact that Seto would soften up to him. Sure, there were times when Seto chided him, but those were times when Mokuba could accept and see his own wrong in the end. But recently, it felt as if everything that he did had a fault tagged to it. Mokuba knew this was probably cruel of him, but he wished Seth had never existed.

He glanced at the calendar attached on the wall next to the fitted study desk. Seto was getting married tomorrow. Under normal circumstances he would have been one of the happiest person alive: his brother finally relenting to crack open his walled up world and accept the presence of another special person in his life. But not under the current conditions, when Seto was making the wrong decision. Even if Mischa begged him to attend for his brother's sake, Mokuba just could not bring himself to do it.

_I wonder how Tea's feeling_, he suddenly wondered, and felt guilty. _I bet she must be feeling so destroyed now._

His eyes flashed back to his cell phone. He hesitated for a while, then switched it on and searched for Tea's number. It took her quite some time to answer, and when she did, Mokuba could hear the barest traced of a sniffle marring every few words. Even in that state, Tea tried her best to sound as upbeat as she could for Mokuba, and their general pleasantries went rather well until Mokuba broached the subject both of them were avoiding.

"Seto's getting married tomorrow," Mokuba said quietly.

Tea fell silent for a while. "Yeah, I know," she responded just as softly.

"I don't want him to get married to her."

Silent.

Mokuba tried again, more desperately this time round, as he frantically blinked back the tears that were threatening to slip. "Tea, he's going to make the biggest mistake of his life. Stop him…"

Tea seemed to struggle to even reply. "I… Mokuba, he… I can't do anything."

"Yes you can!" Mokuba argued. The tears were already slipping, and he hastily wiped them away with the back of his hand. "Tea, I don't want to see Seto throwing his life away like that."

"Mokuba… I... I'm leaving tomorrow."

"What? Why?"

Tea hesitated momentarily. "I'm… I'm going to Juillard, in New York. I… I managed to get a place there…"

"So you're just going to let Seto marry Caroline just like that?" Mokuba asked back angrily.

"I…" Tea's voice faltered. "Mokuba, I'm really sorry."

"For what?" Mokuba could barely suppress his feelings now. "You and Seto are just the same! Selfish! Nobody cares about how I feel. It's all about you, yourself, and Seth!"

"Mokub-" the younger Kaiba severed the connection before Tea had a chance to protest. This time round, when he switched the phone off, he was adamant never to switch it on again.

_I hate you, Seto_, Mokuba thought angrily as he cried into his pillow. _I hate you._


	36. Chapter 36

**A/N: i told you guys i suck at intended hiatus xD**

**anyway, before anything, thanks for the reviews and reads! (:**

**good news: Caroline still doesn't exist in this chapter. -leaps for joy-**

**good news: Mischa is secretly a stylish superhero or a secret agent, at the rate she's going in attempting to save the day.**

**bad news: i have a feeling this fic is going to end soon. but maybe i'll exceed 40 chapters. or maybe i'll have an alternative ending. WELL. we shall see xD**

**so, without further ado,**

**for everyone who's been faithfully following me on this fic,**

**Scars Are The Notes of Love Chapter 36.**

**as usual, R&R! (:**

**Love,**

**Fika1603.**

* * *

Mischa looked on incredulously as her employer paced, back and forth, the entire floor of his office on the 27th floor of KaibaCorp headquarters. Seto was still clad in his dark grey suit that he had worn to work since yesterday – evident he had camped overnight at the office. Mischa understood her boss's anxiety, though: it was the dreaded Saturday. And oh, he had rang her up at four in the morning, demanding her to come down to the office to 'craft some last-minute sleight of hope before 1500 hours'. Of course, Mischa knew better. What he really meant was to accompany him through his anxiety.

After watching Seto prowl towards the window and back to his seat for probably the millionth time, Mischa had had enough. From where she sat, she spoke loudly, "Mr Boss, stop pacing already. It's giving me a headache. And a pregnant woman's headache is terrible for the likes of you men."

"You're making that up," Seto responded, barely impressed by her threat.

"Well, yes I am, but," Mischa was quick to defend her stand. "You pacing about is just wasting time!"

"I'm thinking!"

"Wasn't that what you've been doing for the past two days?" Mischa finally snapped. She got up and pointed heatedly at the clock on the wall. "Mr Boss, it's 10.30am. I've been sitting here watching you trying to think for the past SIX hours. And in case you're wondering, I'm hungry!"

Seto snorted. "Who asked you not to help yourself to the pantry?"

"Because I cannot bring myself to leave you pacing back and forth sinking deeper into your self-dug abyss!" Mischa fumed. She was tired, she was sleepy and most importantly, she was _hungry_. And to make things worse, her employer was in one of his hard thinking mode which naturally omitted normal human activities like eating and sleeping, which she unfortunately needed.

Seto glared at her for some time before he finally spoke softly, "Go have breakfast."

His request caught Mischa by surprise. "Huh?" she asked stupidly.

Her employer sighed. He walked over to his office door and opened them for her. He held one hand out in the direction of the door. "Mischa, get out," he reiterated. "Stop being so stubborn. Your kid needs food. You too. I can sense your crankiness diffusing into the atmosphere of my room."

"Ha ha," Mischa rolled her eyes, but she accepted her employer's kind gesture and sauntered out of the office towards the pantry anyway. Seto followed suit and caught up with her by the time she reached the expansive pantry near the lift lobby past Misa's empty desk. Mischa was already on the prowl, attacking the cabinets. Her hunt yielded a loaf of unopened bread, jars of peanut butter, jam and marmalade, five types of cereal, instant coffee and three kinds of fruit juice. Seto discreetly took two slices of bread and coffee for himself, while he watched on, intrigued, as Mischa reveled in her food discovery.

"Do you usually eat that much?" he asked.

Mischa was too happy stuffing her face to recall that she was cross at him earlier. "No," she answered cheerfully, chomping down on some cereal. "It's just that I've been idly awake for far too long and I'm cranky. No thanks to you." She eyed his minimal breakfast. "Are you sure that's enough?"

Seto glanced down at his breakfast. "Why wouldn't it be?"

"Because, you haven't been eating for the past _two_ days," Mischa replied pointedly. "And, you're getting married. _Today_. In less than 5 hours time." Seto groaned. Mischa wagged her finger mercilessly at him. "You were the one who asked for it."

Seto said nothing. Mischa was right, and he knew that. He glanced over at her and contemplated asking her about Mokuba and Tea. But seeing her in the epitome of bliss as she was enjoying her breakfast, he decided it would be a better time to ask after she was done eating. A cranky Mischa was simply unbearable.

The CEO let his image consultant finish her food in silence. His was left untouched, something usual he did when he lost his appetite. Once she was done, Mischa let out a happy sigh. Seto counted to three, then popped the question, "Have you heard from Mokuba or Tea?"

Mischa scowled at him. Seto ignored it. He looked at her expectantly. Mischa finally said grudgingly, "Yes. But they seem to not want to have anything to do with you."

Mischa wondered if it was just her imagination or her employer's face really did fall when he heard her answer. _Mr Boss, you're an absolute genius in every other realm except human interaction,_ she chided him silently in her mind. She glanced at her watch. _Nearly past 11. I need to call Yugi._

Grabbing her handbag, she hurriedly made up an excuse to escape to the ladies. Seto merely grunted and waved her off in assent. Once she was in the safe premise of the ladies, she fished out her cell phone and punched in Yugi's number.

"Hello?" she whispered frantically. "Yugi! How are things?"

Yugi sounded equally frantic when he whispered back. "Not good. I'm with Tea and the rest now, on the way to the airport. She's not changing her mind. How's Kaiba?"

"Driving me _mad_," Mischa hissed. "I don't know if he's purposely trying to make himself as disheveled as possible so that Caroline will get too turned off to marry him."

"But Kaiba never seems to get disheveled," Yugi pointed out.

"That's the problem. He looks good no matter whether he's wearing yesterday's clothes or not. Anyway, I'm going to try buy time and drag him to his house to get many changes of clothes or something. Do you think you can delay Tea further? Lock her in the toilet. Slip laxatives into her drink. Make her miss her flight."

"That's mean," Yugi was starting to sound hesitant. Mischa was preparing some authoritative outburst in case he changed his mind. But to her relief, he said, "But okay, I'll try to figure something out. Oh, have you heard from Mokuba?"

Mischa groaned. "That's another problem on my hands. I'll go figure out something about him. If I can reach him, that is. Anyway, you just go focus on Tea. Remember, make her miss her flight."

"Alright. Oh, apparently Tea has something for Kaiba. Some sort of letter, I think. I accidentally saw the envelope just now."

"What? And you didn't by any chance had the guts in you to steal it, did you?" Even as she spoke, she thought quickly. Her orders came out the moment the ideas hit her. Mischa could only hope they were in the end comprehensible, and most of all, feasible. "Okay, new job for you. Find a way to get her to pass that letter to you. _ASAP_. I'll ask Marvell to send over Syam or get his own ass down there to pick it from you. That note must reach Mr Kaiba before 3pm."

"I'll work on it," Yugi promised. "Okay, the gang's coming. Call you in a bit!"

Mischa quickly hung up. She took a peek at her cell phone clock. She was taking too long. If Seto had slipped back into his dour mood, it would prove cumbersome for her plan to take off. She wetted her hands and hair just for the sake of looking as if she was really taking the time to fix herself. Once she was convinced she looked convincing enough, she dashed out of the bathroom. The pantry was empty.

_Which means that Mr Boss is in the office, _she thought glumly as she rushed over to his room. _Which means I'm screwed._

"Mr Bo-" her words died there.

She scanned the office frantically. Where was he?

"Mr Boss?" she called out again. She took a step carefully into the office, peering at the chairs where the guests usually sat. No one there. She then peered into his adjoining bathroom. Door open, lights off. "Mr Boss? Hello? We can play hide and seek later. Not now."

Suddenly she caught sight of the tip of a shoe sticking out from behind his desk. Mischa practically threw her handbag onto his desk as she rushed towards her employer's crumpled form. She shook him frantically. "Mr Boss?" Her eyes widened in shock and panic. She shook him harder. "Mr Boss? Mr Boss?"

He barely stirred. Mischa shook him again, and even resorted to slapping his face. "Mr Boss? Mr Boss, wake up! Yoohoo!" She rushed to press the intercom button to call for Misa, then recalled that it was a rare off day, and no one but she and her boss were in the office. "Shit." She went back to shaking him furiously and shouting into his ears, "Mr Boss! Wake up! Mr Boss!"

Mischa had just gotten to the verge of tears in her terrified condition when suddenly Seto stirred. By the time he woke up groggily, Mischa was already wailing.

"What the hell are you crying for," he muttered, rubbing his temple slightly.

"I thought you died!" Mischa exclaimed through subsiding sobs.

"_WHAT?_"

"You were unconscious!" she protested. Her crying had miraculously ceased. "I even slapped you! Wait, let me rewind that. I stepped into the office and found you unconscious. I freaked. I slapped you to wake you up. But it didn't work! I freaked some more. And then you woke up."

Seto looked at her incredulously. The colour was returning to his face. "Pregnancy made you worse, Mis," he commented finally, as he attempted to stand. He ended up having to lean one hand against his desk for support. The three days without food and sleep were finally showing their effects.

"Eh, what? Wait, shouldn't there be a 'thank you for being so worried about me, Mischa' coming from you?" Mischa shot back. "And anyway, you're not welcome. We're getting you home."

"Huh?"

"To sleep," Mischa announced huffily. "And to make you look presentable for that mockery of a marriage of yours."

Seto looked as if he was about to protest, but in truth he was too tired to do likewise. Instead he tossed his car keys to her. "Let me sleep in the car," he ordered. "You can drive."

His Indonesian image consultant seemed genuinely excited. "What is it today?"

"What do you mean what is it today? It's the old Mercedes."

Mischa had to ponder for a while which Mercedes he was referring to. Then it suddenly struck Mischa, and she yelped, "Wait, I'm supposed to be your limo driver while you sleep in the backseat?"

Seto, meanwhile, had already sauntered out of his office and towards the lift lobby. Mischa mentally stabbed him with daggers as she stomped after him.

XO XO XO XO

Tea eyed Yugi curiously. Her spiky-haired friend had appeared restless since the morning, and especially so after the phone conversation earlier. He had seemed so secretive, huddling away in a corner and whispering into his phone, it was enough to rouse her suspicion.

_Or maybe, Yugi has a girlfriend, and he just doesn't want to tell me,_ she suddenly thought.

"Yugi, who were you with on the phone just now?" she asked casually. At his surprised look, she raised a knowing eyebrow and whispered, "Girlfriend?"

Yugi blushed. "No, no," he shook his head in denial. He looked around nervously. "That was Mischa."

"Oh."

"She told me to wish you all the best in New York," Yugi quickly lied. He even flashed her a reassuring smile. "And she was just harassing me demanding to know why no one told her earlier."

Tea actually looked relieved. "Really? But wait, how did she know?"

"I told her," Yugi answered sheepishly. (In his mind he could imagine Mischa gleefully applauding him and shoving an Oscar into his hands). "I just thought it would be the right thing to do."

Tea laughed nervously. "I see." She peered hesitantly at him. "Did she… you know…"

Yugi shook his head empathetically. "Nah, no mention of it. Anyway, I don't think she's going, either. She's telling me about how her travel agent messed up her tour schedule to Norway, and she needs to go down and sort him out."

"Oh," Tea barely hid her crestfallen features. She fingered a pale purple envelope she had kept on her lap since just now.

Yugi quickly took the chance to inquire about it, "Tea, is that… for…"

"Yeah," she replied with a faint, sad smile. "I thought that maybe if Mischa was going, she could…"

Yugi didn't know whether Mischa had a terrific sense of timing, or if the gods were in his and Mischa's favour, because just as he peered past Tea's shoulders, he caught sight of Marvell, who was searching and finally stopped when he saw Yugi and Tea. Giving the thumbs up sign to Yugi, he hurried over to them. Yugi nodded as surreptitiously as he could to signal that Marvell could 'surprise' them by being there.

"Oh, hey! What are you guys doing here?" Marvell greeted from behind Tea, who turned in surprise to see him there.

"Hi Marvell!" Yugi greeted back quickly. His eyes darted to the purple envelope still on Tea's lap. "We're just sending Tea off. Didn't Mischa tell you?"

"Tell me what?" Marvell looked genuinely surprised. For a moment, Yugi's heart constricted. What if Mischa hadn't filled in everything for her husband prior to this?

"I'm leaving for New York today," Tea explained, trying to sound as sunny as possible. "What brings you here? I thought Mischa's trying to sort out your Norway trip?"

"Oh, that," Marvell waved his hand dismissively. "I'm letting her go pick her own fight. God knows why being pregnant brought out the lawyer in her. Anyway, I was sending off a friend of mine who's going back to Shanghai. After this, I thought I'd pick Mischa up and drop by her boss's house for a bit."

Before Tea had a chance to respond, Yugi jumped in, "Is that so?" He quickly turned to Tea. "Ti, didn't you say you had something to pass to Kaiba?"

Tea hesitated. "Yes, but…"

Without warning, Yugi snatched the letter and handed it to Marvell. "Would you mind helping her give this to Kaiba?"

Marvell played along brilliantly. He even threw a hesitant look towards a silent Tea for good measure. "I suppose," he relented gruffly. He glanced at his watch. "Anyway, if I want to catch Mischa before she picks another fight after the poor souls at the tour agency, I'll have to go now." He regarded Tea sincerely, and squeezed her shoulders encouragingly. "Have a safe trip to New York, Tea. I think I speak on behalf of Mischa too when I say that we're very proud of you to be able to realize your dreams."

"Thanks, Marvell," Tea replied equally as sincerely as she could. "Please send my love to Mischa. I'm going to miss her." With a nod and wave, Marvell was gone. Once he was out of sight, Tea turned to Yugi and mumbled, "I'm sorry, I'll need to use the loo."

Yugi nodded in understanding. As he watched her go, he took out his cell phone and dropped Mischa an SMS: _Marvell's got the letter. Now I'm just figuring out how to delay Tea._

Within seconds her reply came in: _Good for you. I was stuck being chauffeur for Mr Boss. And now I have to wait for him to finish showering. Rich men take forever. [And by the way, just follow my idea of giving her the laxatives that I gave you yesterday. Always does the trick.]_

Yugi sighed. He really did not have it in his heart to do it to Tea, but it really was one of the better – and easier – ideas he had on hand. Sneakily looking left and right (this was enough to make Yugi feel like a criminal spiking an innocent girl's drink), he withdrew Mischa's laxative capsule, unloaded its contents into Tea's drink and stirred to dissolve it. After which, he sent back a reply to Mischa: _I did it. And if you must know, I'm feeling horribly guilty._

Mischa barely sounded sympathetic: _Good job Yugi! (: I am so proud of you! (: (: [And if you must know, I am trying my best to pretend to struggle to find something good for Mr Boss to wear for his wedding. And I am trying my best to get him to want to even prepare for his wedding. Also, in the process of hiding his laptop and cell phone now. He will kill me but I don't care. Wish me all the best.]_

XO XO XO XO

Tea splashed her face with water again, hoping that its coldness would shake her to her senses and freeze her tears, but to no avail. If anything, it made them worse. Nevertheless, she kept splashing her face with water, even if at times she paused to grip the edges of the sink and cried.

Ever since she had penned her agreement to Juillard, and told Caroline about it, the blonde who was due to marry her ex-fiancé today had only contacted her once. Tea had reluctantly accepted her call to hear that Seth was thankfully well, and was recovering rapidly, and also to hear Caroline once again reaffirming her promise to return Seto to her. Tea had almost said that she could keep Seto all to herself if she'd like, but bit it back. For some reason, she did hope Caroline would fulfill her promise. Even if she didn't particularly like the way Caroline was treating Seto as if he was some object.

And Mokuba… when she had heard Mokuba pleading with her yesterday over the phone, her heart broke. But if she too had gave in and cried along with him, there was no guarantee she would be here in the airport where she was now. There was no guarantee she would go back on her agreement with Caroline and actually halt the wedding, and subsequently end off any hopes for Seth to get a perfect family together even if it was just for a few months.

_I need to be strong, _she told herself firmly. _I have to do this, both for Seto, and especially for myself and my dreams._

Checking herself one last time in the mirror, and convincing herself that she looked as if she hadn't been crying, tucked her hair back, took a deep breath and headed for the door. Her new life would start soon. And no matter how much it hurts her deep down, she needed to be ready for it.

When she got back to Yugi, he was fiddling with his phone. Sensing Tea approaching, he looked up and smiled warmly, gesturing to her drink. "Let's finish up our drinks and go," he told her, moving to drain his own glass. "Joey, Tristan and Serenity's already waiting for us at the other side."

Tea forced herself to smile as she drank up. Once she was done, she set her empty glass back onto the table and picked up her bag. "Okay, let's go!"

XO XO XO XO

Mokuba stared at his phone. Since he dared to switch it on in the morning, it had only buzzed once to tell him that he received a message from Mischa. In truth, he felt slightly disappointed. Despite him being mad at Seto, he had been hoping that his brother would call him or drop him an SMS since today was his big day after all. But instead, only his brother's image consultant bothered to contact him.

_No one really cares,_ he concluded miserably even as he fiddled to read the SMS Mischa had sent him.

To his surprise, it was a lengthy – and pretty bossy – SMS. In it, Mischa had warned him to put aside all feelings of resentment he had towards his brother if he wanted to join her and Yugi in putting a stop to the wedding. After that, she had pretty much listed her orders to him, and with it she assumed he agreed without objections.

Mokuba re-read the SMS a few times. In all honesty, he didn't want to go anywhere near when Seto marries Caroline. But Mischa had already thought of a plan to prevent his brother from destroying his own happiness, and the fact she was pretty much dictating to Mokuba what to do…

The younger Kaiba sighed as he touched his locket lightly. _Seto had saved me on numerous counts,_ he recalled determinedly. _This time round, I'm going to save him. Wait for me, big brother!_


	37. Chapter 37

**A/N: hey guys! completed this chapter just now and... well, i have no idea how my brain functions so twistedly past midnight o.O**

**in any case, thanks for all the reviews and reads! (:**

**and... we're nearing the end of this tale!**

**so, without further ado, Chapter 37!**

**hope you guys enjoy it~**

**Love,**

**Fika1603.**

* * *

Seto frowned at the outfit Mischa had set aside for him after rummaging his limited wardrobe. "I thought I'd just wear what I usually wear," he declared.

Mischa snorted. "Even if it's for a mockery of a marriage, at least look more presentable for it. Which means no purple studded trenchcoat. And besides," she waved her hand over her fantastic selection of a deep crimson shirt paired with ebony suit and tie. "This looks suave even before you wear it. And be grateful I actually tried to have it to match Caroline's red Vera Wang dress."

Seto frowned deeper. "Whoever said that dress was for her," he muttered, but picked up the shirt and suit anyway.

"Eh, it wasn't?" Mischa sounded surprised. She would have pressed on further, if her employer had not retreated into his bathroom to get dressed. Harrumphing, she sat herself in his chair and waited impatiently for him to re-exit the bathroom. The moment she saw him, she leapt up in glee, clearly proud of her own selection. "If you just have better fashion sense to the office, I'm sure you'll be a much more cheerful person."

"Whatever," Seto retorted dismissively. He headed over to his desk and was seemingly rummaging for something when he stopped abruptly, turned slowly towards Mischa and eyed her warily. "Where's my laptop?"

"Mr Boss, you're getting married!" Mischa responded exasperatedly. "What do you need a laptop for?"

"It's a business negotiation contract that I'm attending, not a wedding," Seto responded tersely. He held out a hand and repeated his question in a lower, more dangerous tone. "Where is my laptop, Mischa?"

Mischa swallowed hard as she shakily took it out from behind her and handed it back to her employer, who snatched it immediately from her without so much of a thank you. Barely giving Mischa a chance to ask him what was so pertinent that he just needed to have the laptop at that time, Seto quickly plugged it to his printer, which soon came to life, coughing out several sheets of documents. Once he was done, he quickly scanned through them, satisfied that they were the correct ones before hurriedly putting them into a folder. Without warning, he tossed it to Mischa, who had to jump out of her seat to catch it before it hit the floor.

"Come on, let's go," Seto said determinedly, heading for the door.

Mischa stared after him, bewildered, but scrambled to her feet to keep up with him. What precisely her employer was planning, that was what she'd like to know. By the time she caught up with him, he was already getting into his Mercedes. Mischa threw a quick glance at her own convertible, at the empty space next to Seto in the backseat, at hers again, and back to the Mercedes. Without further contemplation, she jumped into the backseat with Seto, thanking Roland who closed the door after her.

"I'd really like to know what you're planning," Mischa finally voiced out once the car was already cruising along the roads.

Seto, who had seated himself right at the end, staring listlessly out of the window, merely said, "Spare your self-imposed misery and just read the folder."

Without waiting Mischa jumped right into the task. The first document that greeted her was her employer's and Caroline's amended pre-nuptial contract. The next, legitimization and subsequently the changing of Seth's last name from Lobo to Kaiba. The third was, to her surprise,

"Divorce papers?" she exclaimed out loud.

"It's in the contract, isn't it?" Seto replied coolly. "I've already set the date. There's no way Caroline can even hope to renege on her agreement."

Mischa inched away slightly as she stared at her boss in horror. "Mr Kaiba, do you know what you're doing?" she asked seriously. She waved the folder furiously in front of him. "These. Mr Kaiba, a marriage is _not_ a business contract! In business you can crush people without sympathy for anyone. A marriage, sir, is considered a holy union by some people, if you must know. And your business-like decision with regard to this marriage with Caroline is hurting a lot of people_, far more than you can imagine_."

Seto glared at her silently with an expression she could not comprehend. Finally, before he diverted his attention to the scenery outside the window, he said softly, "Don't tell me things that I already know."

XO XO XO XO

The registrar glanced up impatiently at the attractive, young blonde in front of him. She was wearing a simple strapless evening gown in a shade of Prussian blue, paired with heavy white gold plated with diamonds and sapphires. Her blonde hair was worn loose. Needless to say, she looked like someone who was going to start a new chapter in her happy life. The problem was, unfortunately, she had been waiting for the past one hour, and he too had been forced to sit and wait with her.

"Is your intended groom coming?" the registrar asked again, annoyed.

The blonde woman threw a look at him. "Can't you just wait a bit longer?" she snapped.

Her personality doesn't match her at all, the registrar thought silently as he outwardly bowed in apology and sat back down on his chair. As he sat, he noticed that the chair was by now rather warm. He sighed inwardly. He would not forgive the groom for making him wait this long. Actually, if he was the bride, he would have probably called this off minutes ago. But for the sake of love, which had a propensity to be deaf, blind and mute simultaneously…

All of a sudden, the doors swung open and in strode a tall young man sharply dressed in a red shirt and black suit. The registrar perked up a little. _Finally,_ he sighed in relief. He got up, greeted the newcomer and ushered him to his seat right in front of the registrar's desk, beside the outwardly attractive young lady.

The registrar had barely started the procedures when the young man suddenly whipped out a folder and slammed it onto the desk. His future bride observed his actions from the corner of her eyes before rolling them in abject distaste. The young man barely seemed to notice the registrar in front of him. Instead, he turned to the blonde woman and ordered rather harshly, "Before anything, I want you to sign all the papers in this folder. Without question."

The woman looked at him, obviously displeased. "What do you have up your sleeves, Seto?"

"Nothing," came the harsh but honest reply. "Everything as per our agreement." He stuck a hand into his jacket and took out a fountain pen. "Sign them."

"I hope you're not attempting anything funny, Seto," the woman warned as she plucked the pen from his hand and blindly signed the papers.

The young man called Seto smirked as he too signed the documents. "Caroline, shouldn't I be the one worried and warning you instead?" He inspected the documents in his folder for a while before passing it to his assistant who was standing not too far behind him. As the non-Japanese assistant took the folder from Seto, the registrar noticed how Caroline eyed her disapprovingly. _Surely this wouldn't be a happy marriage,_ he commented to himself even as he prepared the marriage contracts on the table.

The registrar cleared his throat, hoping to at least secure the couple's attention. He glanced at each of them carefully, "May I have your identification documents, please?"

XO XO XO XO

Mischa glanced worriedly at her watch, at the door to the marriage registration office and at her phone, even as she kept her eyes trained on her employer and his horrible future wife. _Where's Marvell?_ She thought anxiously. _And Yugi… how come he hasn't contacted me yet? Don't tell me Tea's flown off._

Clearly, her common sense told her to just ditch the marriage registration process and contact them to find out where in the world they were. Unfortunately, she had been ordered to always stick by her employer throughout the entire process, doubling up also as the person who helped him carry his briefcase around. Mischa sighed a bit too loud, and her employer threw her a warning look. Quickly she sobered up and retreated a bit further to the back.

_I need to contact them come hell or high water, _Mischa thought frantically. Balancing the briefcase on one arm, she shoved her other hand into her handbag, searching for her handphone. _Where is it… come on…_

Finally her hand hit the cool, smooth metal of her handphone and she mentally cheered. Her fingers worked furiously on the keypad, typing an urgent SMS to her husband and Yugi each. She peeked a look at her employer. Still arguing with the registrar. For a moment Mischa wondered if he was attempting to delay his marriage all on his own.

_If he is, way to go Mr Boss,_ she applauded him as she gripped her handphone tighter. _Come on… either Yugi or Marvell… hurry hurry…_

Her handphone vibrated so suddenly, Mischa almost let go of Seto's metallic briefcase. She immediately opened to read the message. It was from Marvell: _I'm outside. Coming into the room in a few seconds_. Before she had a chance to reply, another message came in from her husband: _Heads up, honey._

Accordingly, Mischa glanced up towards the door. And sure enough, her husband banged the door open with such urgency, and was effectively panting and drenched in sweat, it took all that Mischa had not to run over to him and give him a hearty kiss for an acting job well done. At the same time, Seto and Caroline both snapped their heads towards the door. Both were evidently surprised to see Marvell there, although Caroline's was probably due more to the impending fear that her marriage plan could falter. Seto got up to receive Marvell, while Mischa played along and stared after her husband quizzically.

"Marvell, what do you think you're doing?" Mischa hissed for show.

Her husband ignored her and strode up straight to Seto. He held out a purple envelope in front of the young CEO.

"What's this?" Seto asked.

"Something that somebody wanted to give you before she leaves," Marvell commented. It was evident from his countenance that he was barely happy about the entire situation, and he even gave Caroline an evil eye for good measure.

"Who?" Seto asked again, more firmly this time.

Marvell snorted. "Read it yourself." He turned towards his wife. "Are you coming with me or staying here to see your friend's life ruined?"

Mischa glanced at Marvell, then at Seto. Out of Seto's sight, Marvell gave her a wink. She understood well what he meant. Meekly, she told her husband, "I'm under orders by Mr Boss to stay."

Marvell looked realistically annoyed. "Fine, I understand," he said just before he stepped out to leave. "See you soon, Mis."

Mischa winced. Maybe her husband was really mad at her. Never mind that. She had an entire plan to execute, and so far only one part out of it had succeeded. She peeked at her handphone again. Where was Yugi?

"Can't you just put that letter aside, Seto?" Caroline interrupted shamelessly as she hooked an arm through his. Seto stiffened and practically shoved her away, but she seemed unperturbed. "Can we just hurry up and finish off whatever we need to?"

Seto eyed her coldly. "Don't dictate me on what I am or am not to do." Proceeding to ignore her, he tore open the envelop and unfolded the letter, ready to read its contents.

Just then, Mischa's handphone buzzed continuously. A call! She thought excitedly as she answered it without looking at the number.

"Hello?" she breathed into the receiver.

"Mischa, it's me, Mokuba," the younger Kaiba answered from the other end. Mischa nearly skipped in delight. Another part of her plan seemed to be underway. "I've read your SMS, and know everything that I'm supposed to say. Is my brother there?"

"Yes, yes," Mischa tried to sound urgent and upset instead of gleeful and excited. She glanced up at Seto and handed her phone over to him. At his quizzical look, she whispered, "It's Mokuba. He wants to speak to you."

At the mention of his brother's name, Seto wasted no time in snatching the phone away from her clutch. Almost eagerly he spoke into the receiver, "Mokuba!"

As the phone conversation went on, the relief that had came on to his face almost immediately faded away, replaced by shock that seemed to creep in to decorate his features instead. When the call ended, Seto disconnected wordlessly.

Worried, Mischa rushed over to her boss's side. She asked him quietly, "What happened?"

He said nothing even as he held out her phone. If Mischa had not grabbed it immediately, her beloved clamshell phone would probably have slipped from his grasp and lay broken on the floor. Mischa bit her lip nervously.

"Seto?" even Caroline had sidled up to his side, placing a gentle hand on his arm, peering up at him with genuinely anxious eyes. "Seto, are you okay? What happened? What did Mokuba say?"

Seto acted as if she barely existed, and instead shifted his attention to Mischa. "Did you know about this?" he asked sharply.

His question totally caught Mischa by surprise. Adamant on ensuring that her plan would work as far as possible, she stammered, "N-no, sir. What did Mokuba say?"

The KaibaCorp CEO's face blanched at her words. He glanced about in confusion for a while, refusing to answer Mischa's question (although the truth was that she was already more than acquainted with the answer). Caroline continued to press him, but the more she did so, the more resistant he was. Instead, he just pushed her aside and picked up the letter he barely had a chance to read earlier. Mischa tiptoed slightly and attempted to read it from behind his shoulder:

_Dear Seto,_

_By the time you're reading this, I'm most probably on the plane to New York. I'm not too sure if you've heard, but I managed to get into – and accepted – a place in Juillard. I'm sorry our relationship had to end under this kind of circumstances. I'm sorry we had to part in this way. But since you've already chosen your own path, I think it's just right that I choose my own. To each, his own. Wasn't that the exact maxim you told me once?_

_Congratulations on starting your life anew with Caroline and Seth, and Mokuba. I have to be honest; it pains me to even write this. And if I have to be honest again, I confess that our relationship wasn't probably destined to work out from the start. Seto, I do love you still, but the way our relationship was going was only hurting the both of us unnecessarily. Maybe we weren't ready to take on such a responsibility, or maybe individually we're not cut out to be the best girlfriend or boyfriend for each other._

_Whatever the case, it's probably too late to even salvage anything. Seto, I trust that you'll take good care of your new family. You've been a wonderful father to Mokuba, and to Seth. Please continue to do so. And please, treat Caroline well. I know she and I can't always stand the sight of each other, but despite everything, I do know that she really does care for you, and all the more, you should care for her a bit more too._

_Perhaps we'll meet again someday, perhaps we wouldn't. But whatever the case, Seto, please love and care for your family and for Caroline. Even if you aren't able to do it because of her, at the very least please do it as a favour for me._

_Goodbye, Seto Kaiba._

_Tea Gardner_

By the time Mischa finished eaves-reading the letter, she had to hurriedly wipe the tears from her cheeks. She glanced at her employer. She didn't know if it was any more possible for him to be paler, grimmer, and more deathly silent than at that time. His hand clutched the letter so tightly it crumpled. For a moment, Mischa felt slightly guilty. Maybe she had overdone it. Two shocking departure news of two of the most important people in her employer's world was probably too much.

"Mr Boss?" Mischa dared herself to ask him, cringing with every syllable. "Are you… alright?"

"What time is their flight?" he demanded.

"Huh?"

"Don't act dumb with me, Mischa," Seto snapped. "What time is their flight?"

Mischa swallowed hard. "I… Tea's is…"

"Now," Caroline interjected unfeelingly. She frowned at him. "Why are you bothering about her, anyway? I thought we already have a pre-nuptial agreement that _I intend to honour_."

To both Mischa's and Caroline's surprise, he barked out a laugh. "You can intend to honour it for the rest of your life," he responded bitterly. He turned to the registrar. "Hand me the marriage contract." Shaken, the registrar gave it to him without much words. Without hesitation, Seto penned his signature to the dotted line. Mischa could only gasp in horror. What was her boss doing?

Caroline, meanwhile, looked shocked but eventually a pleased smile ruptured her features. Almost too happily she penned the signature next to his. She turned to regard Seto with a huge smile, barely able to contain her excitement. "Seto, we're finally married!" she announced, inching forward to give him a customary kiss.

Surprisingly, Seto held up a hand which stopped her right in her tracks. Instead, he reached out for his folder containing the documents that already bore her signatures, and gave her a mirthless smirk. "And we're also effectively divorced."

"What?" Caroline stared at him, stunned. Behind him, Mischa nearly dropped his briefcase onto her feet.

Seto held up the documents in the folder, one by one. "Pre-nuptial agreement, Seth's legitimization document and our divorce papers, effective an hour after our marriage," he explained coldly. "Hasn't all these years in business taught you to never trust anyone, not even your business partner?" He tossed the folder to Mischa, and issued his orders loudly so Caroline could hear his every word, "Get this to the courts. I'm sure we'll be able to ratify everything by the end of this week."

Caroline was having none of it. She leapt to her feet and tugged at Seto furiously. "What's the meaning of all this?" she nearly yelled, half in tears.

Seto was barely moved. "Something that you deserved for tricking me into marrying you," he replied contritely. "Now unhand me." Caroline, too struck by everything that was happening, obliged and slackened her grip. Without another glance at her, Seto turned on his heels and headed for the exit, gesturing to Mischa to follow after him.

Mischa's mind was in a whirl. What exactly happened in there? She threw a glance behind her. Caroline was crumpled in her seat, possibly too furious or too dejected to even cry properly. For a split second, Mischa actually felt sorry for her. She turned to her boss who was angrily striding towards his car, intending to make some comment but wisely kept quiet even as she piled into the backseat with him.

"Get me to the airport," Seto ordered. "Fast."

"Yes sir!" Roland answered stoutly.

In the backseat, sitting beside her blatantly irate boss, Mischa hugged his briefcase tighter and wished she could just disappear. Nothing was more intimidating than being in the same tight space as a dragon. Mischa readied herself for some silent treatment during the rather long ride to the airport.

"Have they left?" Seto asked her all of a sudden, even as he kept his eyes trained to the blurred scenery outside of the car.

"I… I don't know," Mischa answered honestly. "I tried to contact them, but I haven't been getting any reply…"

Without looking at her, Seto gave her a cruel smile. "And Mokuba, is he still at Tanaka dormitory?"

"He… yes, he is," Mischa had never felt a strong urge to be so honest in her life until this recent interrogation by her own boss. "How did you know?"

Seto said nothing for a while, before he finally commented quietly, "He's my brother. I don't have to know anything."

After that, the backseat fell silent again. Mischa shifted uncomfortably in her seat. _This is unnerving,_ she thought regretfully. _I wish I never planned this_. And in her guilt, the image of a crumpled Caroline earlier re-entered her mind. This time round, Mischa could barely hold it back.

Forgetting that he was mad at her, Mischa asked Seto rather bluntly, "Weren't you a wee too harsh on Caroline just now? She looked really devastated."

Mischa had expected him to give his customary derisive snort, or another cruel smirk. Instead, she could swear that the smile he elicited contained as much traces of guilt and regret. "She'll understand," was all Seto said. Then, he turned to her sharply, and Mischa could see the CEO back in Seto again as he snorted, "Why are you still sitting there looking at me? Keep contacting the geek squad to see if they've decided to kidnap my woman."

Mischa frowned at him even as she dialed. "But it was her decision, you know."

"Whatever. Keep contacting them."


	38. Chapter 38

**A/N: thanks for the reviews guys! (:**

**i think the big question after this chapter is more of, what the heck is Caroline scheming? o.O**

**and will Seto who decided to finally come to his senses go after Tea?**

**hopefully i'll be able to figure these out by the end of this entire story! :D**

**but for now, without further ado,**

**Chapter 38!**

**hope you guys enjoy this one!**

**love, fika1603**

* * *

"All passengers, please switch off your mobile phones or set it to airplane mode. This flight will be taking off in a few minutes. Thank you for your cooperation."

Yugi was starting to panic. Why weren't the laxatives working? Being squashed between her and an ever-nosy Joey only made it harder for him to even dream about sneaking an urgent SMS to Mischa, much more call her. He contemplated excusing himself to the airplane's toilets, but as far as he could tell, they were all occupied by passengers who had a sudden, genuine need to use the facilities. So for now, he was stuck where he was, under orders by the pilot and the patrolling air stewardesses to switch off his mobile phone immediately.

He snuck a quick glance at Tea. She was looking out of the airplane window, possibly lost in thought at the prospect of starting a new life in the States. Joey, meanwhile, was too obsessed with keeping his eyes on Tristan and his sister, who were seated behind them. To be honest, initially, the trip was supposed to be made by Tea alone. However, somewhere along the way, Tristan and Joey figured that it would be a great opportunity for them to go on a much-delayed post-high school graduation trip, even if that meant they would end up broke for the next three years. Luckily, Tea's parents mistook their ultimate plan as a cover to ensure that their daughter reached the States safely, and gladly sponsored part of their expenses.

It should be safe enough for now, Yugi surmised, taking out his mobile phone carefully and typing a hurried SMS to Mischa: _Hey, your laxatives don't seem to be working. We're already on the plane. Taking off in a few minutes. [What do I do?]_

Too late. Joey seemed to have caught sight of Yugi fiddling with his phone. Grinning, he leaned closer. "Yo Yug, why don't you just confess to us that you have a girlfriend hidden somewhere?"

Yugi looked appalled, as he waved his hands frantically in denial. He turned to Tea for support, but she seemed amused by Joey's teasing, and was giving him a knowing look. By the time he glanced back at Joey, even Tristan and Serenity had peered over his seat to dig out the truth from him.

"Come on, Yugi, spill!" Tristan egged him on excitedly.

"No, no, no!" Yugi insisted. He wondered how red his face was. "I was just switching off my phone!"

"Liar!" Joey crowed gleefully. "You were typing something. I saw it!" He reached out to grab Yugi's phone, but his friend protectively clutched it closer to him. "Aw come on, Yug! Let us see! Who's the lucky girl?"

"It's nobody," Yugi insisted, stuffing his mobile phone into his shirt, making it impossible for anyone of his friends to grab hold of it. "Guys! Really! I was just switching it off!"

"Bluff bluff bluff!" Joey continued to tease him. Yugi's effort to safeguard his phone seemed to have no effect on him, as he started to grope Yugi's shirt to hunt for it, leaving his ticklish friend yelping.

Fortunately for Yugi, an air stewardess who was making her rounds walked past, and kindly reminded his friends to buckle up since the plane would be taking off any second. Gruffly, they obliged, but not before issuing a playful threat to Yugi to surrender his phone to them the moment they landed. Yugi laughed nervously as he agreed. With his phone effectively turned off and hidden in his shirt by now, Mischa was really on her own.

XO XO XO XO

Mischa flailed after her employer as he burst through the doors at the airport, occasionally breaking into a run just to catch up with him. Once the car had pulled up at the airport entrance, Seto had leapt out without waiting for Roland to fully stop the car, leaving Mischa behind to run after him on her own. People who instantly recognized the KaibaCorp CEO hastily made way for him; others he managed by seamlessly weaving in and out of the crowd. Mischa meanwhile had lost count how many times she had to utter "Excuse me" in a variety of tone ranging from sweet and polite to blunt and annoyed.

By the time she caught up with him, Seto was already at the ticket counter, brazenly ignoring the queue and heading straight to interrogate the officer at the counter. Even as she stood beside listening to her employer – on a suppressed rage level dangerously hitting boiling point – she winced despite his ominously calm tone in addressing the officer.

"I ask you again," Seto repeated his question, less patient this time round. "I want the passenger list of every flight that is taking off to New York today."

"And I repeat myself, sir," the stern female officer seemed unperturbed by his threatening voice. "I cannot issue the passenger list freely. It's against the procedures."

"Don't bother, Mr Kaiba," Mischa interjected miserably, holding up her handphone. "Yugi managed to SMS me. We're too late. They've left."

"What?" Seto turned to her, almost in disbelief. He read the SMS on her handphone screen and swore quietly.

Mischa bit her lip. "What do we do, sir?"

Seto said nothing as he took the time to think. Even if he jumped on the next outbound plane, it would be pointless. Although he knew New York like the back of his hand, it would still be impossible to search for her in every crook and cranny within a day. No, it would be better to take a step back, and wait for her to settle down in a permanent residence during the course of her stay there.

Moving away from the ticket counter, where some of the passengers were already muttering insults directed towards him, Seto took out his handphone and made a long-distance call. He checked his watch as he waited to be connected to the other side. No doubt his staff would grouse, and probably hurl some insult at him once he ended the call, but who cares? There was a reason they were paid.

After a rather long wait, a groggy voice came on the other end, "Hello?"

"Good morning to you over there, Charlie," Seto eased into English as he greeted his American staff. "I hope I'm not disturbing you."

Suddenly Charlie sounded awake and alert. "Good morning, sir! No, don't worry about disturbing me. Is anything the matter, Mr Kaiba?"

"I need you to get someone to head down to the JFK as soon as possible and monitor every incoming flight from Japan," Seto ordered sharply. "In particular, keep an eye out for several passengers: Tea Gardner and Yugi Mutou. Get Vanessa to forward you their photos. After that, I need you to track where they're residing. Get back to me as soon as you have information."

Charlie responded with another energetic affirmation, and Seto ended the call. He turned around to see Mischa squinting at him in suspicion. Carefully avoiding her glance, he muttered, "What?" even as he turned on his heels to head back to his car.

Mischa pursed her lips as she shook her head. Typical of him to even set spies on his own girlfriend, Mischa thought sardonically, getting back into the backseat with him.

"Tanaka Academy," was the last thing Seto said, before leaving behind a contemplative silence to accompany him and Mischa throughout the entire journey to their destination.

XO XO XO XO

Wearily, Caroline dragged herself into the threshold of her mansion, ignoring the polite greetings of her butler. She started up the stairs to her room, but changed her mind. Instead, she headed quietly for the lounge, just past the living room. As she laid herself on the couch, she removed and dropped her jewelry on the coffee table with a soft clang.

Without much comment, her butler dutifully lit the fireplace for her. Afterwards, he headed towards the small bar nearby and poured her a glass of water, which he carefully set beside her on the coffee table. "Please, Miss Lobo," he gestured towards the drink.

Caroline mumbled something that sounded like a thank you and quickly dismissed him. Her butler bowed deeply before excusing himself, leaving his mistress in the bubble of her own misery. Once her butler's footsteps were out of earshot, Caroline burst into tears. Even if it was true that Seto had seen through her entire plan to lock him in marriage, and then lock KaibaCorp out of the infocomm market, the humiliating way he had outwitted her was just too much for her to bear. She should have sensed something was amiss when he came in with such stony features and arrogantly demanded her to sign all those papers as a pre-requisite to get married. If what Seto said was true, and the courts would be able to validate the papers by the end of next week, not only would she be officially recognized as his former wife in a marriage lasting barely an hour, but she would also have rescinded her hold on her own son.

I don't even know what I've signed, she thought in frustration through tears. I don't even know if I've unknowingly handed over Seth completely to him. Seth… my own Seth…

Suddenly she felt a soft fluttery touch on her cheek. Caroline opened her eyes slowly, and leaning over her face, his own features contorted with worry, was her son. Seth's eyes looked searchingly at her face, as if pretending to understand the reason behind his mother's tears. Noting how her son's eyes were so reminiscent of Seto, Caroline only cried more.

"Mummy, don't cry," Seth whispered, leaning in to hug his mother. "I'm here."

Too reminiscent of his father. Despite Seth's confident assurance, Caroline's tears barely stopped flowing as she held her son tightly. It took her a long time, but now Caroline finally understood: all she needed was her son. She had been the one to raise him, look after him. All these lonely years, he had been the one to be her pillar. It didn't matter whether Seto entered their lives or didn't. In fact, now that she thought about it, coming back to Domino City with Seth in the hope of bringing the family full circle with Seto was completely unnecessary. For four years, she was happy to live alone with Seth. And she was more than fine at being rejected outwardly by Seto at those social events they happened to end up at together. She should have realized that for someone like Seto Kaiba, she was the last person he would miss or even think about.

If he could treat Tea that way, what more myself, she thought darkly. Her mind suddenly raced to the documents she had signed earlier. Her eyes darkened slightly. No way in hell is he going to take away my son.

She pulled herself away from her son, and placed both hands on either side of his head, peering into his eyes to make sure that he would understand whatever she was about to say. "Seth, listen to me," she started firmly. "Do whatever I tell you. No questions asked, okay?"

The blonde boy nodded.

"Good. Now I want you to…"

XO XO XO XO

A sharp knock came on the door. Mokuba frowned as he got up from the hostel's bed. He opened the door slightly, peered up to see the hostel's resident manager and asked nervously as he wondered which school rule he had broken now, "Yes?"

"Mokuba, there's someone to see you," the resident manager said, automatically alleviating one fear drumming inside Mokuba and bringing forth another source of anxiety.

"W-who?"

"Mokuba."

Mokuba's eyes widened. He would recognize that voice anywhere. He peered behind the resident manager and acknowledged his visitor, "Big Brother?"

The resident manager politely excused himself, leaving the two Kaiba brothers facing each other. Mokuba took a while to study his brother's features; he was surprisingly well-dressed for the day, without a single trace of any ostentatious trenchcoat. Despite himself, Mokuba could not help but smile as he commented, "That's a pleasant change. If you dress like this everyday…"

"It's a hassle," Seto responded glumly. "The shirt creases very easily."

"You'd rather wear one of those trenchcoats of yours?" Mokuba asked incredulously, making a face.

"At least it feels normal," his brother answered softly. He stared at his brother for a few seconds, with that indiscernible look in his eyes. "How have you been, Mokuba?"

The younger Kaiba shrugged. "Good, I guess. The hostels here have pretty much everything."

Seto glanced around at his brother's dorm, as if to ascertain the truth. Mokuba was right. Judging from the well-made built in closet, adjoining desk, bed and even a couch, complete with air-conditioning, it was more than a comfortable place to stay in.

Seeing the approving look on his brother's face, Mokuba beamed. "Told you," he said smugly.

"The rent must be ludicrous."

"I manage," Mokuba answered cheerfully. But his false cheer quickly faded as he asked his brother reluctantly, "How's Caroline?"

"Divorced," Seto's answer was short and emotionless. At his brother's confused look, he elicited a small smirk. "Apparently my brother threatened to take off to the States on his own."

Mokuba blushed. "It was Mischa's idea," he mumbled.

"Who else would it be," Seto snorted.

"So… you're not mad at me?"

Seto chuckled, and shook his head. "Why should I be? It should be the other way round." Seto regarded his brother with as much seriousness and affection that he could muster in his tired state. "I hope you forgive me, Mokuba."

"What about Seth?" Mokuba asked defensively.

His brother appeared pensive momentarily. "He's my son, but before everything, you're my brother," Seto finished softly. "I've sworn that I'll never leave you, Mokuba. I have no intention to break my promise to our parents."

Mokuba bit his lip. Parents. For a long time, Seto had been his single parent figure (ignoring Gozaburo of course); he had almost forgotten that once upon a time he and his brother too had proper parents to call their own. Even if Mokuba cracked his brain, he probably won't be able to dredge the memory of their biological parents to surface. All along, he had assumed that Seto had possibly forgotten about their past. Hearing him mention their parents was more than enough to surprise Mokuba. He probably didn't know his brother as much as he thought he did.

By the time he woke up from his stupor, he noticed that his brother was already walking about in the room, no doubt making renewed mental comments about the state of his dorm room. Bed too small for Mokuba, who was used to a four-poster for years. Fitted shelves too short to stow away all of Mokuba's toys. No adjoining bathroom. Oh the horror. Mokuba could not help but smile wryly as he imagined the comments flitting around in his brother's mind.

"So how is it, Mokuba?" Seto asked out of the blue.

"Huh?"

Seto shifted his gaze away from the heavy drapes that hung from the windows of the room to turn to face his brother. "What would you like to do?" he asked again. "I… I won't force you to come back with me, if you're much happier staying here." He gesticulated vaguely with his hands towards the scenery outside the window, where several of the students in Tanaka Academy were out playing soccer in the field nearby. "I mean, you're with peers your age here. People you have much more in common with." He gave his brother a wry smile. "I'm a terribly boring person when I'm not in my dueling mood, I know."

Mokuba barely knew how to react to that. On one hand, his brother was right; he already had friends his age he didn't mind hanging out with here at Tanaka. On the other hand, if he were to stay here, that would mean his brother would be left all alone, in the mansion and in the company. Even though Seto never showed it, and even though most of the time he acted as if he really would be happier being left on his own, Mokuba could tell that deep down his brother would probably feel much lonelier if he did not have Mokuba by his side. Before Seth and Tea entered his life, he only had Mokuba. Even after they entered his life, at the way things were going, Seto still really only had Mokuba.

His brother seemed to read what played on in his mind. Seto placed a reassuring hand on Mokuba's small shoulders and spoke quietly, "Don't worry about me. Do what you want."

Mokuba bit his lip again, and averted his gaze downwards. He did not have the heart to say it.

Seto, who had been observing his brother since just now, gave a small, sudden chuckle that caused Mokuba to look up. The younger Kaiba became even more confused when his brother reached out to touch the top of his head gently.

"I'll settle the term payment for the hostel," Seto promised him, still keeping his hand on the top of his brother's head. "Whenever you feel like coming home, just tell me."

Seto kept his hand where it was for a few more seconds, before reluctantly removing it and let it hang by his side. Mokuba barely knew what to say, and again his brother seemed to understand him even without saying a thing, for Seto ruffled his brother's hair playfully and gently for the last time before he headed out of the dorm.

XO XO XO XO

"Welcome back, Mr Kaiba."

Seto glanced up wearily, slightly startled by the greeting. Upon seeing Nana opening the door for him, he tried his best to give a slight smile. She held out her hands to receive his jacket and briefcase. Seto handed them over graciously, breathing a thank you as he did so.

"Bad day, sir?"

Her employer snorted, but it sounded like a despondent, resigned sigh more than anything else. He stood in the middle of the threshold, glancing about at the grand structures of the mansion's interior. Whether it was true he was miserable, or he was just thoughtful at that moment, knowing her employer's frigid attitude, it was hard to tell. Deigning not to probe him further behind the reason for his distress, she informed him kindly that she could send for a drink or a light snack for him, if he liked.

"No, thank you, Nana," Seto answered distractedly. "I'd prefer to be alone for the time being." His eyes landed on his jacket and briefcase in her hands. "Actually, it's okay." He held out his hand. "I'll bring those up myself."

Nana seemed confused, but said nothing as she handed back his jacket and briefcase to him. He glanced towards the corridor that led to the dining room, contemplated for a while before telling her that there would be no need for dinner.

"Save it for another day when I feel like eating," he told her as he turned to head upstairs to his room.

Seto barely waited to hear her reply as he traipsed as calmly as he could up the stairs towards the corridor that acted as the main passageway for the mansion's east wing. He walked past his study, several guest bedrooms, until finally he paused outside Mokuba's room. His eyes flicked to his bedroom, which was located not too far off at the end of the hallway, then back to his brother's room. He hadn't slept proper for nearly three days – he would very much like to be able to do so today. Without hesitation he pushed open the door to Mokuba's bedroom and stepped inside.

As he lay down on his brother's bed, Seto realized vaguely that he had been in his brother's room not too long ago. It had been in the exact same condition: the blue eyes white dragon stuffed toy on his brother's bed, games that his brother had collected over the years on the shelves. On the bedside table, in a glass casing, was Mokuba's Duel Monsters deck. Seto slowly took them out from the glass casing, and browsed through his brother's cards. The game itself had been the strongest evident of what they went through together. It was with those cards that Seto got to where he was, and it was with those cards that Mokuba had supported him effortlessly all these while. In short, they had grew up with those cards.

Seto elicited a rather bitter smile as he re-thought of the prospect of growing up. While he had been too caught up in a whirlwind romance with Tea, and then forcing himself to catch up with the prospect that he was a father to a five-year-old, he had forgotten about the most important process that Mokuba was going through: adolescence. The growing up years. For a split second, Seto felt like a middle-aged man having to contend with the difficulties and headaches that came along with the process.

No wonder schools organize seminars for parents on how to handle their kids, he thought sardonically, recalling all those time Domino High conducted such events. He sighed. I probably should have gone.

He picked up the blue eyes white dragon stuffed toy and stared at it. With Mokuba having decided to stay on at the Tanaka Academy hostel, that left him with practically nobody except his employees in the gigantic mansion he called home. Tea had already left him for the States, and Seto knew he deserved it for everything that he had not done for her. Seth too, was comfortable at home with Caroline.

Seto pressed his eyes shut, willing the impending acknowledgement of loneliness to go away. Tomorrow would be a new day. He would survive.


	39. Chapter 39

**A/N: and we're inching closer to the end! D:**

**anw, thanks so much for all the reviews!**

**i have a love-hate feeling towards Seto by now, but i think most of you are bordering on the hate part -laughs-**

**anw, for you guys, chapter 39!**

**[and oh, the song used is Last Song by the great GACKT. personally i like the song; it's sad, sweet and meaningful. but a very anxious, guilt-ridden Seto will probably hate it. ah well...]**

**hope you guys will like this one!**

**love, fika1603.**

* * *

Somebody shook his shoulder gently. He stirred slightly, but did not wake up. Another gentle shake. Grumbling, Seto sat up, ready to lambast whoever it was that disrupted his sleep. He had expected to wake up to the sight of his half-closed laptop on his desk, probably brimming with emails he needed to address before he probably had a chance to grab a shower. Instead, he woke up to see a shelf filled with all sorts of toys across him, and a blue eyes white dragon stuffed toy in his arms. He glanced down. Crimson shirt with black pants. Sometime in the night someone must have had taken his jacket and put it over him to act as a blanket. Seto sighed as he recalled all that had happened yesterday.

He turned to see Nana putting down a tray of food for him on Mokuba's bedside table. It was something rather heavy: some sort of broth and rice, paired with a steaming cup of green tea. Seto frowned as he asked his housekeeper, "Nana, what time is it?"

"I think it's slightly past noon, sir," she replied. She looked at him kindly. "You were sleeping so well, I didn't want to wake you up."

"I see… thank you," Seto murmured as he tried to reassemble his thoughts. She handed him his tea and Seto took a sip of it, lost in thought.

Seeing her employer in his thinking mode, Nana politely excused herself. Seto managed a thank you before she left. He glanced at the food prepared for him. Generally speaking, he seldom ate rice. But for some reason, the commoner's food today seemed appealing. Perhaps it had to do with the simplicity and comfort belying the preparation, giving off the warmth of home and family.

_Or maybe I just don't want to admit how empty this house is right now,_ he thought morosely as he downed a spoonful of rice laced with what turned out to be chicken broth.

After a few spoonfuls, Seto decided he had had enough of such bland food. Every bite was making him feel worse than before. Pushing himself off the bed, he reached for his handphone. 1 missed call. He checked the number. New York. They better had good news for him.

"Mr Kaiba, sir! I was just about to call you again before turning in," Charlie responded raptly from the other end.

Seto snorted as he did the time zone conversion mentally. It would be 2300 hours there, no wonder. "Any news?"

"Yes, sir," Charlie seemed eager to share his findings. "As requested, I managed to trace the two people you've mentioned, Tea Gardner and Yugi Mutou. And they seem to have arrived in New York with three more people: Joey Wheeler, Tristan Taylor and Serenity Wheeler."

Seto frowned deeper at the mention of a particular name, but nudged gruffly, "Carry on."

"Well, Tea Gardner seemed to be registered to reside at the Meredith Willson Residence Hall. Her friends, meanwhile, are slated to stay at the Ameritania Hotel nearby."

Seto took note of the locations. "Alright. Thanks Charlie."

Meredith Willson Residence Hall. He glanced at the clock on the far corner of the wall. If he hurried, he could probably reach New York by morning. He scrolled down to another number in his contact list and pressed dial.

"Good afternoon, sir," came Misa's familiar voice from the other end.

"Good afternoon, Misa," he replied, a fresh air of composure and confidence seeping through him. "The package that I asked you to hold on to… is it still with you at the office?"

"Yes, sir. Right here with me."

"Good. Send it over to my house, asap. I'm leaving for New York in an hour."

Misa seemed surprised at her employer's completely unplanned trip. "New York? But Mr Kaiba, we have a board meeting today. And afterwards, we have yet another meeting with Industrial Illusions."

"Tell the shareholders to go home for the day," Seto instructed offhandedly as he gathered his briefcase and jacket to head back to his room. "And tell Pegasus nicely I'm not free to see him today or tomorrow."

"I… well, alright, sir. But they're not going to be very happy about the cancellations," Misa warned.

"No, they won't," Seto agreed. "But they have no choice, do they?"

Misa sighed resignedly at her employer's stubbornness. "No, they don't, Mr Kaiba. I'll hurry over to send the parcel to you now."

"Good to hear that."

"You're welcome, sir."

XO XO XO XO

Tea stared out of the window of the hotel room she was sharing with Serenity for the night. In truth, all her things had been placed in her room in the Meredith Willson, but she had requested for permission to spend the night outside of campus. Seeing that the official school year would not fully start until two days' later, her residence administrator had kindly allowed her to do likewise. Or maybe it had to do with her having Caroline Lobo as patron. Whichever way it was, Tea was glad she had more time to spend with her friends, before she embarked on a brand new chapter as an arts student.

She had barely been in Manhattan for a full day, and she had a strong feeling she would love the place. It was hip and had a strong city vibe to it, not unlike Domino City, but naturally alien grounds felt more comfortable with the notion that there would be a slim possibility of running into some people she would rather avoid. Slim because she was well aware that he had a branch running in the city too. But with him starting a new life rooted in Japan, slim might as well be equated to zero.

"Tea, I'm ready!" Serenity called out happily as she stepped out of the bathroom.

Tea smiled at her. She would have to thank her parents again for letting her friends join her on this trip, even if it was just for a short while. It eased off the possibility of feeling homesick for a while.

She picked up her satchel and slung it over her back. "Come on, let's go! I'm sure your brother's probably eaten half of the dining hall by now."

Serenity made her face. "Ah, well, Joey still hasn't changed even though he's supposed to be all grown-up now."

Tea rolled her eyes. "Joey? Grown-up? Get real."

The younger girl laughed lightly. "Reality is bittersweet. I'll just have to accept the fact that Joey's my brother, flaws and all."

Tea pretended to be shocked. "You don't sound so defensive about your brother recently."

"I've been more alert to the ways of his world," Serenity added, still smiling. "Regardless of how good a brother he is, at the end of the day, he's still a guy. And I mean no offense to the other gender, but… they can be pretty disgusting."

"Well… not all of them are."

"You mean, like Seto Kaiba?" Serenity approached the matter as kindly as possible.

Tea smiled grimly at the thought of him. "He's just a rich snob," she forced herself to comment as indifferently as she could. "He's used to the world of grooming for appearances sake. Since everything in his world is based on that: appearances, image, and reputation."

Serenity bit her lip unsurely. "You sound bitter about that," she observed quietly.

"I'm not bitter, I'm just…" Tea made a move to defend her stand, but her words trailed off upon realizing that that was indeed the situation. Finally, she sighed, defeated, and confessed, "Yes, I am bitter about it. If you were me, you would be, too. Ditch the person that you love to marry someone else who happened to have borne you a son so your reputation is salvaged at some point, your son's appearance as having come from two respectable lines is kept up, and once all that family masquerade is settled, you file a divorce with your wife. And what do he and Caroline expect? Me to run back to him after knowing that he had agreed to such monstrosity of a contract she had crafted up?"

Joey's sister winced at Tea's stinging tone, but regarded her friend seriously. "You don't hate him to the core, do you?"

"Hate him to the core?" Tea laughed darkly. "I wish I could. It would make things so much easier. Anyway," she snuck a peek at her watch. "Oh my gosh we're late! Your brother won't stop complaining for the next five hours!"

"Actually, he will," Serenity grinned. "Just give him food."

Despite herself, Tea had to laugh at the truth behind those words.

XO XO XO XO

Caroline hauled the last of her luggage into the back of her rarely-used Land Rover. Everything seemed to have fitted well into the vehicle. Sweeping her sunglasses upwards and resting it on her head, she squinted at a blue Cadillac parked nearby. She saw the blond head of her son bobbing up and down as he kept himself company with his remote-control car.

"Is that all, Miss Lobo?" the deep voice of one of her staff shook her from her stupor.

Caroline turned to give the bags in the Land Rover one last glance before giving an approving nod. Her staff gave her a small bow before he hopped into the driver's seat. Caroline, meanwhile, made her way over to the blue Cadillac, opened the door to the passenger seat, and placed herself beside her son.

Seth stopped playing with his car as he sidled up to his mother. Caroline rested an arm around him as he glanced up at her curiously, "Where are we going, Mummy?'

His mother gave him as warm a smile as possible. "Home," she replied simply. "We're going home."

Seth's eyes widened in excitement. "What about Daddy? Is he coming along?"

Caroline's smile disappeared from her features. Instead, she grabbed her son's shoulders tightly and looked at him in the eye as she said sternly, "What did I tell you yesterday, Seth?"

"No Daddy," he answered meekly, clearly frightened by his mother's sudden anger.

"That's right, no daddy," Caroline repeated the statement, as if to further ingrain it in her son's head. "You wanted to know who your father is. You've met him. And now we're going home, alright honey?"

"But Mummy –"

"No buts!" Caroline raised her voice accidentally. She let out a loud, frustrated sigh as she sought to calm herself down. She spoke again in a calmer but equally stern tone, "We're going back to Milan, honey. Just like before we came here and all these… madness started. Just you and me, okay?"

Seth sounded unconvinced, as he continued to ask again in a small voice, "But if I miss Daddy?"

Caroline thought for a while. She needed to be tactful to ensure her son's feelings were not hurt. Finally, she relented and said, "Maybe you can call him."

Her son immediately brightened up at that thought. "Really?" he asked eagerly. "Can I call Daddy now?"

"No."

"But Mummy –"

"I said, no!" Caroline snapped again. Seth fell silent and pulled away from his mother, looking down as he hugged his legs together. "I'll let you call him when the time is right."

No reply. Caroline sighed again. She would placate her sulking son later. She leant over to the driver's seat and gave her driver the green light to bring them to the airport, where a chartered plane was already awaiting them.

As her blue Cadillac cruised along the street, and the scenery of Domino City flashed past, Caroline felt a sudden lump in her throat. I shouldn't have come back, she realized. I shouldn't even have bothered to let Seto be aware about his son. Her eyes grew stormy with determination. But everything can go back to the way it was. It's not too late.

XO XO XO XO

The young man leapt off from his private jet, followed closely behind by his bodyguard. His American staff lined up on either side of him like a guard of honour procession, bowing low as he strode past them. Once he reached the end of the line, a well-built man stepped forward. Seto shook his extended hand firmly.

"Hello, Charlie," he greeted casually.

"Welcome back, Mr Kaiba," Charlie responded. "I have a car prepared for you."

"Might as well," his Japanese employer muttered as he continued to make his way to the designated black sedan. Another of his employee opened the door for him, and Seto hastily clambered in.

Roland also hurriedly got into the front seat beside the driver, balancing his employer's briefcase and a rather large light blue box on top of it on his lap. He turned around to his employer, "Where to, Mr Kaiba?"

Seto thought for a while as he clicked open a mini fridge installed in the backseat and took out a bottle of mineral water. As he did so, his eyes darted to read the time on the dashboard. Slightly after 6 in the morning. He should have time enough to freshen up.

"My house," he instructed. Just as the driver was about to set the GPS on course, Seto thought better of it and issued a new instruction. "Forget that. Ameritania Hotel."

Roland seemed genuinely perplexed. "But Mr Kaiba," he started. "Check-ins are usually at 3pm."

Seto snorted. "They'll give us a room each, don't worry."

The entire journey was conducted in silence on the employer's part, but amiable chat between the employees. After deciding he had better things to do than eavesdrop in his employee's conversation about baseball which he had no interest in, Seto drew close the separator between the backseat and the front, and fiddled with the music player. He switched tracks rather rapidly. Surely there must be something that was actually worthy to be listened to. It took him a few tries, but finally he came across one. It started on a rather tender note, so he barely bothered to change it. At least, until the lyrics came on:

_I walked around aimlessly, wandering_

_My faint breath, just showing white in the air_

_The meaninglessness of the seasons passing by_

_Brought on the tears, for no reason_

_"I still love you…"_

_The sadness that continues to fall_

_Changes to pure white snow_

_I kept looking to the sky_

_If now my wish reach you_

_Before my body vanishes_

_Hold me tightly once more_

_We hurt each other so many times,_

_Unable to understand one another._

_Even then you were always kind_

_Engraved in the ring you sprung upon me_

_Our promise remains unfulfilled_

_"Even now, I remember…"_

_My memories getting farther away from me, always so bright_

_I wanted to stay with you longer_

_We can never see each other again, but_

_I pray you never change_

_I can't rid myself of the final tears you showed me_

_Even if I disappear with this white snow_

_I want to bloom in your heart forever_

_The sadness that continues to fall_

_Changes to pure white snow_

_I kept looking to the sky_

_If now my wish reach you_

_Before my body vanishes_

_Hold me tightly once more_

Seto practically thumped the 'stop' button. He glanced at the detail playing on the screen. Last Song – GACKT. No wonder it's such a piece, he thought irritably. His sudden fit of irritableness had nothing to do with the song; that much he knew. Rather, it had to do with himself, and his instant recalling to mind of all the people that he cared about and had sidelined all these while. Mokuba. Seth. Tea.

For a split second, Seto wondered if Mokuba's decision to stay on at Tanaka's hostel was due more to him being unable to fully forgive him. Then he thought about Seth; how would his son react to everything that's happening? Finally, his thought rested on Tea. He had flown over with extra baggage of guilt and absconded responsibility; it was just then he wondered if Tea could actually have it in her heart to forgive him for everything that he did.

I_'m probably more screwed than I thought,_ he sighed as he closed his eyes and rested his head against his seat.

XO XO XO XO

"Your plane's all prepared and all your luggage in, Miss Lobo," an airport official who had been given the task to handle all her flight arrangements told her.

Caroline nodded, and allowed herself to be ushered along to the chartered plane, Seth clinging on to her hand sullenly. At times he seemed to purposely stiffen himself, demonstrating his reluctance to follow his mother. But Caroline responded by firmly pulling him until Seth sulkily dragged himself after her. Even at the stairs leading up the plane, Seth resisted.

"I want Daddy," he repeated for the umpteenth time.

"Later," Caroline responded, clearly annoyed by his petty behaviour. "Now get on the plane."

Seth continued to shake his head furiously, his small free hand gripping the metal railings at the side. "No!" he kept refusing, more stubbornly this time round. "No, no, no!"

"Seth!" Caroline nearly shouted. She yanked her son's hand, sending him flailing after her up the stairs and into the plane. In an almost fluid motion, she dragged him to his seat, fastened his seat belt and regarded him seriously. "I don't want to hear another word about Daddy from you, Seth. Not about Daddy, not about staying here. Do you understand?"

Seth said nothing, just looked away from his mother.

"Do you understand, Seth Lobo?"

"Yes," Seth mumbled before returning to sulk.

Caroline left her son at that. _Let him sulk for as long as he wants,_ she thought irritably, making her way towards the cockpit to tell the pilot that he could take off now. I_ just need to make sure we get out from here as soon as possible._

XO XO XO XO

The moment the elevator lift opened, Tea and Serenity rushed out in search of their friends. Clearly they had to be somewhere. They glanced around. Not at the lobby. Not even at the entrance. Where were they?

"Boo!"

Tea and Serenity jumped in fright, despite recognizing very well the owner of that voice. Serenity pouted at her brother while Tea whipped her handbag and whacked him on the head. Hands akimbo, she glared at him as she seethed, "Do that again and I will kick you all the way out of the hotel building."

Joey pretended to be terrified at her threat. "No, no! I don't want to have a taste of your judo!" Then he grinned before adding, "Which you didn't finish learning, by the way."

"Joey!"

"Okay guys, time out!" Tristan confidently stepped in to interfere, as if he was some adjudicator in a non-professional debate. "I don't want to get kicked out of the hotel premises before we even start to have fun."

"Tell that to Joey," Tea scowled.

"Ah come on, Ti, it's a joke," Joey whined.

"What if I got a heart attack?" Tea shot back viciously.

Joey snorted. "Nah, you won't. You're Wonder Woman, remember?"

Tea gritted her teeth as she replied, "I wish I brought my lasso."

"Okay cut it, you two," Tristan intervened again, this time holding out an open map so Tea and Joey had to peer at it from either side of him. "Let's start plotting our route for New York City Adventure: Day One. Where shall we head off to?"

"That giant-ass toy store!" Joey crowed without even bothering to read about the other available places of interest.

"Fifth Avenue!" Serenity chimed in.

"Central Park!" Yugi said excitedly, jabbing his finger at the star that marked the location.

"Statue of Liberty!" Joey quickly challenged.

"Maybe we can try the art museum-" Tea tried to put forth her suggestion, but was quickly drowned out by the bickering voices of her two guy friends.

"Central Park!" Yugi said stubbornly.

"That giant-ass toy store that I cannot pronounce, and then Statue of Liberty!"

"Central Park!"

"Toy store and the lady with the torch!"

Their petty bickering would have continued, if not for a sudden, surprising sight coming from the entrance and headed towards the receptionist counter. The receptionist seemed to be firmly repeating the hotel's check-in policy of 3pm, but clearly their new guest could hardly bother to wait. Instead, he slid his credit card across the counter and requested for an unoccupied floor, if not, a suite.

"You can either allow me to forcibly resettle your guests or give me a room," he added on coldly.

After a few more back and forth arguments, and a staring match, the receptionist relented glumly and handed him the card key to a suite on stand-by. The young man signed to pay for two nights' worth of stay, while his bodyguard, who was surprisingly carrying a few branded paper bags in his hands, had already gotten hold of the keycard.

"Would you like me to go up to check on the room first, Mr Kaiba?" Roland enquired as per his usual procedure.

"Don't bother," his employer replied, as he pocketed his credit card back into his wallet. "I don't assume this place hardly has anyone waiting to assassinate me."

The group of friends who had been quietly observing him from the back took a step forward, and Joey could barely contain his outburst, "Don't be too sure about that, rich boy!"

Seto froze momentarily, registering the familiar voice first before he turned around, resisting a smirk if only for Tea's sake. He narrowed his eyes at the blond boy. "What the hell are you doing here, Wheeler?"

Joey snorted. "Can't you see? We're on holiday. Ho-li-day. Are you familiar with that term?"

This time round, Seto could barely contain his smirk as he replied, "No, I'm sorry to say I'm not, Wheeler. Because unlike you, I'm employed, and I have clear purposes in my life. Which doesn't include being a mutt that hangs about behind other people on a daily basis."

"Why, you-" As usual, Tristan and Yugi thoughtfully restrained him before their blond friend started a fight on foreign land. Serenity threw Seto a dirty look. He pretended not to see it.

Tea, meanwhile, was barely impressed. She regarded Seto coldly, "What the hell are you doing here, Kaiba?"

"Oh, it's Kaiba now, isn't it?" he responded testily.

"Why should I regard you as anything else," Tea glared at him.

"You can start by hurling abuses at me," Seto unexpectedly said.

Tea coolly turned to face Joey. "You hear that, Joey? I'll let you have the honour of doing that."

It was Seto's turn to be barely impressed. "I said you can do it, not him."

"What's the difference?" Tea shot back fiercely. "Both Joey and I are Yugi's friends. Your nemesis. Sworn enemy. Whatever you are."

A shadow of hurt seemed to flit across the young CEO's features, but just as quickly as it appeared, it disappeared. He wasted no time in gaining back his self-assuming air. "I need to talk to you."

"Then talk."

"Not here," Seto hesitated. "Upstairs."

Tea crossed her arms and looked angrily at him. "I don't want that weirdo of a wife of yours to come after me, accusing me of stealing her husband."

"We're divorced!" Seto snapped.

"That's fast," Tea responded sarcastically. "How long did it last? Just enough for you to consummate your marriage with her?"

"We divorced the moment we signed the marriage papers," Seto explained coldly. His iciness transcended into his eyes as he glared at her. "I need to talk to you. I'll wait for you in my suite. 8pm." His eyes darted to Yugi. "If you're that mistrusting of me, you can bring Yugi along."

"I'm not going," Tea answered heatedly.

Seto seemed to have not heard her. "My suite. 8pm." He turned to Roland and started to make his way to the lift lobby. "I'll handle settling in. Contact my New York office. Tell them I'm popping by for a surprise visit. That should keep everyone on their toenails."

As he walked away, Tea seethed after him. her worried friends neared her. Serenity laid a gentle, reassuring hand on her shoulder. Joey, meanwhile, eyed her carefully, "You're not going, are you?"

Tea shook her head. "I don't care. Come on guys, let's get back to our sightseeing. He's made me lost all appetite I had for breakfast."

XO XO XO XO

Seto placed the paper bags on the empty space beside the bed before he strolled over to glance out of his suite's window, loosening his tie in the process. He probably should have been nicer, but it was hard to be so with Joey Wheeler around.

_Ti, I hope you'll come,_ he silently wished.

* * *

**COUGHS so what do you guys want Tea to do? :D**


	40. Chapter 40

**A/N: dear all, thank you for all your suggestion and choices as to how this story should end :D**

**i think by this superrrrrlonggggg chapter, MOST stuff should have been wrapped up.**

**good job all of us for seeing this story through till the end! -applause-**

**okay, without further ado,**

**Chapter 40 of Scars Are The Notes of Love (:**

**hope you guys enjoy the journey thus far, and thank you!**

**much love,**

**fika1603**

* * *

"That was the best thing in the entire world ever!" Joey declared, stretching his arms over his head as he walked along with his friends out of the famed FAO Schwarz. The friends had resumed debating on where to go after Seto Kaiba's much unwelcome appearance, and Joey had won the battle in determining where they should be headed to for that day.

Tea frowned. "You spent the entire day getting all excited over toys, and then spent half of your money on a giant toy piano which you can't even play."

"It's okay, I'll pick it up soon," Joey said confidently. His friends exchanged sniggering looks between themselves but said nothing. Meanwhile, he turned to face them, grinning. "So where shall we go next? Torch Lady?"

"You're desecrating the icon," Tea remarked distastefully.

"But it is holding a torch!" Joey defended his nickname for the Statue of Liberty. "Anyway, I heard we can go up to see the city from her crown! And especially at night. It'll be superb!"

Yugi spoke up rather hesitantly, "That'll be great, but uhh… shouldn't we be getting back to the hotel now?"

Joey frowned. "For what?"

Yugi glanced at Tea. "You're supposed to meet Kaiba at 8pm, remember?"

"Yes I do, but I thought I already said I'm not going," Tea answered curtly.

"I can go with you if you'd like, Tea," Yugi tried again.

"No means no, Yugi," Tea repeated herself, a bit more harshly this time. She glanced about the street, and caught sight of an empty taxi heading their way. Without warning, she hailed it down. As she got into the passenger seat, she grinned at her friends, "What? You guys are going to let me enjoy Torch Lady all by myself?"

Joey wasted no time in jumping into the front seat, cheerfully congratulating himself for having influenced Tea to adopt and use his lingo. As Yugi squeezed in with the other two in the back seat, he afforded a glance at Tea. As she sat by the window, her grin just a few seconds ago seemed to have diminished to a contemplative sorrow. Every few moments, her eyes would land on her watch, she would hesitate as if thinking of something, before sighing and averting her gaze to that outside of the window.

Yugi sighed. Stubborn people just shouldn't be paired together.

XO XO XO XO

Roland glanced at the package resting on the coffee table in the suite, and once again asked his employer, "Mr Kaiba, are you sure Miss Gardner will show up?"

Seto swirled the diluted white wine in his glass as he contemplated for a while before answering just as confidently as he did the first time round, "I'm sure she will. Just not on time."

"Huh?"

Seto gave him a half-smile. "You're dismissed," he said, waving his hand towards the empty half of the suite. At Roland's disappointed look, he added on quietly, "It's been a long journey from Domino. Go get some rest. I'll be fine on my own."

Roland seemed clearly taken aback by his employer's sudden outward gesture of kindness. He was more used to being the more alert one, ready to jump at his employer's orders the moment they were issued. Especially now since his employer was the only Kaiba member staying in the mansion, Roland had taken it upon himself to be there for his employer more than anything. If it were up to him, he would have ignored his employer's orders and stayed on. But Seto did seem to want to be on his own, so Roland, relented, bowed and expressed his gratitude for being given such an early night by his employer. Seto barely heard him as he continued to stare emptily at the switched on television, which was playing Whose Line Is It Anyway? Roland felt that the television would have served to entertain him much better than it would his employer, who never watch television much in the first place. [Roland should know; more often than not, he would be able to carry decent conversation with Mokuba about Fringe or The Amazing Race, while Seto would pretend to understand whatever it was they were talking about]

"Roland, you can stop hanging about at the adjoining door," Seto said, sounding more annoyed this time. "If you want to head off, do so. If you want to stay, do so."

"Y-yes, Mr Kaiba," Roland hurriedly responded, opting for the former and ducking back into his half of the suite.

Seto sighed as he flipped through the television channels. The only reason he probably had televisions in the house was for Mokuba. He never had any conscious interest in the shows. Some scantily-clad ladies who look similar on some channel called MTV. Some cartoon show where all the characters were bright yellow that Seto recalled vaguely Mokuba used to love to watch. A documentary about panda bears. He frowned. Why did they invent this for entertainment again?

He cast a quick look at the bedside clock. It was already nearing nine. He set his glass down and got up to peer out from the window. Where was Tea, anyway?

XO XO XO XO

The clatter of heels against the well-polished floor on the 27th storey at KaibaCorp Domino City headquarters was warning enough for Misa to jump up from her seat to receive the incoming Mischa Hutama. The secretary held out a hand, signaling the image consultant to slow down, which she did with a skid. Misa regarded her immediately with a scowl, "You'd think being pregnant would make you a bit more careful with your way around."

"Baby's stronger than me," Mischa waved away her friend's concern. From the way her dark eyes were burning, it was evident she came bearing some urgent news. She thumped the secretary's desk with every word. "Misa, listen. I managed to get a bunch of papers to court, like what Mr Boss told me to. They've checked, it's all legit and awaiting implementation. So you see, after that, I ran over to Caroline's house to tell her about Seth's legitimization as Mr Boss's son and you know what? Gone! Him and Caroline! Only the servants are left, and guess what they told me? They're not coming back!"

Misa gasped. "No way!"

"Yes way!" Mischa attested furiously. "Misa, we need to tell Mr Boss. His ex-wife ran away with their son!"

Misa needed no telling; she was already on the phone, getting through to the international calls. No response. Misa tried again. No luck. She slammed the phone down.

"Okay, we'll have to-"

Misa barely had time to finish her sentence when she and Mischa carefully glanced up at the shaking lights overhead. They eyed each other carefully. The moment they registered what was causing the tremors, they already had to cling to Misa's desk to balance themselves.

"Get under my desk," Misa ordered, shoving a wobbling Mischa towards the space underneath her desk.

"What about you?" Mischa protested.

Misa scowled. "Me too. But you're the pregnant one. Get in. Hurry!"

As Mischa scrambled to crouch under the desk, the floor seemed to shake harder. Even the normally calm Misa was starting to look terrified. Seeing that Mischa seemed to take forever to get to safety, Misa let herself fall to the ground, shoved her company's image consultant further into the space and got herself to huddle beside Mischa under the safe canopy of her desk.

"You do know that if this building collapses we're screwed, right?" Mischa commented unhelpfully from behind her.

"Touch wood!" Misa bristled, patting the clearly wooden desk from where she was crouched. She tried her best to glare at Mischa from behind her shoulder. "And shut up. We'll be safe. It's just an odd scarily strong earthquake."

"You sound nervous."

"Oh, shut up. Mr Boss will be scarier than this earthquake once he hears about Seth."

XO XO XO XO

Seth woke up groggily, and reached out for his mother's hand. Rubbing his eyes, he asked sleepily, "Mummy, where are we?"

Caroline threw a quick glance at her son, before reverting to her previous position of staring out of the airplane window. She held his shoulder as comfortingly as possible. "We're touching down in Milan soon, honey." She smiled at him wanly. "Maybe you want to get back to sleep? It'll be pretty scary when the plane goes down from the sky to the runway, you know."

The little blond boy shook his head and snuggled closer to her. As he played with the button of her blouse, he asked sadly, "We're really leaving Daddy behind?"

Caroline said nothing this time round. She knew she was being rather unfair to both father and son by separating them. But while Seto could claim to still have Mokuba and Tea – regardless of how their relationships were currently, Caroline could hardly care – she only had Seth. Perhaps she was selfish, but nothing seemed more fair to her than to ensure that she was still able to be with her son without fear of him being taken away from her at the end of the day. Seto would surely search for them, and he would surely demand to have his son back. She would ready herself to fight him if she had to.

The door to the cabin slid open and one of the plane's crew emerged. She gave a customary bow before informing them that they were expecting to land in about eight minutes. Caroline thanked her, and then proceeded to tighten the straps around Seth, who had already listened to his mother's initial advice and was pressing his eyes tightly shut as if it could remove any possible fear of a plane nosing through the stratosphere and onto solid ground.

Before he knew it, his mother was already shaking his shoulders gently to tell him that they had already landed. The moment Caroline undid his belt, Seth wasted no time before jumping to hug his mother around her shoulders. Caroline, who was rather taken aback by his sudden action, found it within her to laugh as she assumed that he was probably just frightened by the descending experience. Even if his fear was indeed for the fact that he had to start life anew all over, without his father this time round, Caroline pretended not to notice.

XO XO XO XO

"Tea, wait up," Yugi called out from behind her, as Tea was about to make her way to her room.

She paused and turned around expectantly, wondering what was it that he had forgotten to tell her, or to pass to her. Or perhaps she had left something behind. Hurriedly she checked her jeans' pocket. She could still feel the comforting bulge of her handphone in her right pocket. Nevertheless, she waited patiently as Yugi caught up with her.

"Tea," Yugi said again. He regarded her rather seriously, and for a while Tea thought she saw a glimmer of the pharaoh in him. She shook her head slightly. Atem had moved on quite some time back; it just so happened he held an uncanny resemblance to Yugi. Yugi, meanwhile, seemed to mistake her consternation for hesitation and he advised her kindly, "Won't you go see Kaiba?"

Tea stiffened. "For what?"

Yugi gestured vaguely. "Didn't he say he wanted to see you? It sounded… important."

Tea bit her lip. "I don't care," she replied stubbornly. "He can be married or divorced or bankrupt or dead, I don't care. Good night, Yugi."

Yugi barely had time to talk her round to change her mind when Tea just slammed the door shut in his face. He sighed as he scratched his head in frustration. Really. Stubborn people shouldn't be together.

XO XO XO XO

Seto glanced again at the bedside clock. Already twenty minutes past eleven. Maybe Roland had reason to be worried; she probably wasn't coming, after all. Seto got up, left his now-empty glass beside the television which was now switched off and slumped onto the couch that came with the suite. If she could not forgive him, he understood. He reached for his handphone on the study table. He frowned. A message from Mischa?

_MR BOSS, THERE ARE 2 URGENT THINGS. FIRSTLY, AN EARTHQUAKE JUST HIT. I'M CHECKING UP ON MOKUBA AND YOUR HOUSE TO SEE IF THEY'RE OKAY [but they should be. So don't worry]_

_SECONDLY, MR BOSS, CAROLINE TOOK SETH AWAY! I WAS AT HER HOUSE TO PASS HER HER COPY OF THE PAPERS BUT THEN POOF EVERYONE IN THE HOUSE EXCEPT A SERVANT WAS GONE. AND HE TOLD ME HOW HIS MISTRESS IS NOT COMING BACK._

Seto had to reread her message twice, and he silently cursed her for typing in caps. Then he swore again when he finally understood the second half of her message. He should have seen this coming; even now, he still should not trust Caroline for his life. All of a sudden, Seto's heart felt heavy, and he knew why: in the blink of an eye, there was just so many people he had to try to win back. For a moment he wondered if this was all retribution for everything that he had done in his life.

He would search for Caroline and Seth later, he decided. There were only so many places that Caroline could flee to. For now, he needed to talk to Tea, whether she would be listening or not.

He leapt up, tidied his jacket and he had just opened the door when he was rudely halted by the appearance of Yugi at his doorstep. Seto scowled as he glanced down to see his nemesis.

"She doesn't want to see you," Yugi told him rather apologetically. But he quickly added on sternly, "But I do. So I'm hearing you out on her behalf."

"You must be kidding me," Seto muttered as he sidestepped Yugi so he could walk down the corridor towards the lift lobby. "You self-appointed yourself as her manager?"

Yugi was barely amused. "I'm her friend, and yours, that's why," he explained as he followed after Seto. "The both of you are just too plain stubborn to lower your egos and hear each other out. For Tea, I understand; she's been really hurt by what you've done."

"What an original dialogue," Seto interjected darkly.

"But for you," Yugi continued, as if he had not heard him. "Kaiba, a relationship isn't a business contract. What you say, and what you do, matters. You know why? Because it's not money that's involved; it's feelings. Emotions. You can turn love into hate with dollars, but you cannot negate hate to be replaced by love with dollars."

"Yugi…"

"Kaiba, I know this is all… difficult for you," Yugi carried on more fervently, but clearly more empathetic this time. "And I don't blame you for that; you got to where you are with that kind of resolute, isolationist streak. But when I look at you again, I see a dedicated family man. Why else would you put so much devotion and attention to Mokuba before, and to Seth now?"

Seto had had enough. "Yugi, don't poke your nose into issues that you don't belong in," he snarled.

"Tea is my friend, so her matter is mine!" Yugi contested hotly. "And I'm telling you to start treating her like how you would treat family. You're a lousy boyfriend, Kaiba, I'll be honest." Yugi bravely ignored the death stare from the young CEO. "But as the head of the family, even I myself am impressed. Kaiba, if you really care about Tea, let her in into your life. As family."

"Mind your own business," Seto spoke, but his harshness this time round seemed to have been greatly alleviated, Yugi had no qualms his nemesis acknowledged the truth behind his words. "And take the next lift."

XO XO XO XO

Serenity was just about to turn off the lights at the entrance when a rather brash knock came on the door. She jumped in fright at the abruptness, but once she had calmed herself, peered through the peephole and turned around to glance pointedly at Tea. Her roommate caught her gaze and immediately inquired who was at their door. Serenity barely sounded happy when she told her friend who it was.

Tea let out a loud, frustrated sigh. "Which part of I don't want to see him doesn't he understand?" she bristled, purposely fluffing her pillows and trying her best to feign concentration on the television.

The person at the door spoke as if he had heard her, "Tea! Open up! We need to talk!"

"Ti…" Serenity pleaded.

Tea scowled at her. "Tell him he should shut up and go back to his room. It's nearly midnight. Other people are asleep."

Serenity sighed as she unlatched one of the locks, cracked open the door slightly and conveyed the message to Seto through the crack. "Tea told me to tell you to shut and go back to your room," she reported bluntly. "And you're disrupting other people's restful sleep."

Seto ignored her message. Instead, he leaned against the doorjamb and insisted on speaking through the cracks, "Serenity, get away from the crack. I need to talk to Tea, even if that means I have to speak loudly from outside here."

Serenity cast an unsure glance at him, then at Tea, and then finally decided to step aside and pull the door a bit wider so Seto could speak to Tea unhindered. Tea, meanwhile, opted to remain stubbornly rooted on her bed, hugging her pillow and keeping her eyes on the television screen.

"Ti, about everything…" he hesitated momentarily, as if plucking up the courage to say the next few words. "I'm sorry. I've been negligent towards you, towards Mokuba. About Seth… I do admit he's one of the most important people in my life, after Mokuba…"

"And obviously before me," Tea could not help but cut in harshly. "I'm the last on the list; even Caroline ranks higher than me."

Seto fumed silently outside. "Tea, I didn't come all the way here to pick a fight with you."

"I never even asked you to come here," Tea shot back.

"I came here to ask you to come back," Seto responded rather angrily. "I came here because I realized I've been a downright bastard, and I came here because I want to gain back all the family that I've lost."

"Didn't you destroy your own family when you and Caroline made a mockery of marriage?" Tea asked quietly. By now, she had gotten up from the bed, but still standing in front of the television facing him.

Seto glanced away. "It's not my best decision, I'm not proud of it, but it was something I had to do," he answered contritely. "I'm not that cold-hearted to purposely destroy my own family."

"Then why did you do it?" Tea asked again, inching closer towards the door. Serenity thoughtfully scrambled away to the further end of the room to give the two of them more privacy.

"Tea, I cannot… I don't want Seth to end up in a broken family," Seto's voice had become softer. "I'm not privileging Seth over Mokuba or over you… it's just… I know how much a five-year-old needs both parents by his side. I don't want to see him grow up with a half and half, and I don't want to live the rest of my life feeling remorseful that I couldn't give him what he wants just so I can have what I want."

"And what is it that you want?" Tea continued to ask. This time round, she was directly in front of him, face to face at the door.

Seto hesitated again. "A reason for me to come home. Seth. Mokuba. You."

Tea tried her best to appear nonchalant. "Caroline?"

A flitter of regret crossed his features, but he answered calmly, "She's someone I can live with, but nothing more than that. She's not you."

"So why should it be me?" Tea asked, willing her heart to slow down as she inched closer to him.

"You know."

"Why. Me?"

"Because you're someone I love, and I can live with," Seto mumbled, but it was audible enough for Tea. "Because you're someone Mokuba loves as well, and can live with."

Tea was not about to give in. "Seth?"

He pondered for a while. "You'll be easy for him to love, and easier to live with."

"Won't he ask for Caroline?"

"He will ask for Caroline, that's a given," Seto answered definitively. "She's his mother, and she was the only one with him since day one. I have no intention to separate him from her. But I'm going to have to ask him to grow up a little and understand what's happening."

Tea looked at him in disbelief. "Would he? He's just five."

Unexpectedly, he gave her a small smile bearing the barest trace of sadness. "I understood that Mokuba's birth was my mother's death when I was five. He's my son. I'm sure he'll understand his own predicament."

"Caroline… won't she be mad at you?"

"Not for the quick divorce, she won't," Seto answered with quiet confidence, but the once again a shadow of regret flitted across his features. "She's crafty and sly, but when it matters… I know her well. You don't have to worry. Trust me… will you?"

Tea considered his words for a rather long time. She knew that mentally he was impatient, but he was making every effort to remain as outwardly patient as possible as she contemplated her answer. She thought back to something Yugi had told her a few hours ago, when he was still trying to coerce her to go see Seto: despite all his fallacies, Seto Kaiba placed family foremost - It just so happened that KaibaCorp happened to be considered by him as his family as well. She observed him as she continued to think: he had seemed more worn out, and possibly even thinner. Usually he strode with his shoulders held high; but now, she could barely see the trace of the arrogant CEO in him. She recalled Mokuba's fears about his brother turning in on himself and closing up himself to the rest of the world again. Most importantly, she shoved her ego aside and confronted, and admitted to the feelings that still resided in her heart.

"Am I family?" Tea asked him one last question.

Seto Kaiba had never sounded more sincere when he said, "You've always been."

Tea laughed back a smile, receiving a curious glance from the young man in front of her. Without warning, she gave him a weak punch in the stomach, that caught him entirely by surprise. As he nearly doubled over, she steadied him by the shoulders and said sweetly, "If you pull anymore ugly pranks like all that confusion about Caroline and marriage, I will make sure I'll punch you to the pits of hell when you come home."

Seto looked at her, half-shocked. "You mean…?"

"Let's give ourselves another chance, shall we?" Tea offered.

Without warning, Seto pulled her into a tight hug, murmuring "Thank you" over and over again. He pulled himself away from her, held her face in his hands, and told her urgently, "You be a good dance student and make me proud. I'll have to go get Seth back from Milan. But I'll come back. I promise this to you upon my life."

Hesitation must have crossed Tea's features, for Seto shook her gently by the shoulders and bore his azure eyes into her cerulean ones and reiterated his oath, "I will come back. Upon my life. I promise. Tomorrow Roland will pass you something. When I come back, you, me, Seth and Mokuba, we'll fly back to Domino for a little trip. Seth and Mokuba will probably hate it, but I'm sure it's to your taste, and you can educate them in refining their taste in music."

"Huh?" Clearly, Tea was still confused even as he bent to give her a quick peck on the cheek.

"You'll find out soon," Seto said with a small smile, tracing her cheeks with the back of his hand one final time before he started to leave. "Wait for me."

XO XO XO XO

Seth slipped back into the Lobo's Milan mansion without waiting for his mother, and bounded up the steps. Within moments, a slam of the door could be heard. Caroline sighed as she pushed the last of her luggage into the house. Her son's emotions would be on a roller-coaster ride for the next few days: she was just going to have to deal with it.

"Please carry Seth's bags up to his room," Caroline ordered over her shoulder as she headed towards the kitchen to order her cooks to prepare a light meal for her and Seth. She handed them her luggage. "And mine too. Help Seth unpack. I'll unpack mine later." She reached the kitchen, nodded her head at the greetings extended to her by her cooks and instructed them to prepare salad Nicoise for her, and a simple egg mayo sandwich for her son. "Just leave it at the dining hall. We'll help ourselves later."

She did not stay to hear their assent. Instead, she had already made her way up to her son's room. She opened the door carefully and peered in. Seth was huddled in his playcorner, fidgeting with some toy cars. Caroline did not have to go over beside him to know her son was having no joy in playing with his toys. Nevertheless, she crept up beside him and gently hugged him from behind. Seth did not stir.

"I'm sorry," Caroline whispered. "I'm really, really sorry, honey. But I have to do this."

Seth nodded. "It's okay, mummy. I understand. No Daddy?"

"Not for now," Caroline agreed, holding him tighter. "But once things settle down, maybe you can see him."

"Mummy, it's okay," Seth said again, hugging his mother as well. "It's okay. I don't want to see you sad. I'll always be with you. I love you, mummy."

Caroline laughed through tears. "Thank you, baby." She kissed the top of his head. "We'll head down for something to eat, okay? Then you should wash up and go to bed."

"Can you read me a story tonight, Mummy?" Seth asked as he let his mother lead him down the stairs towards the dining hall, where their refreshments were ready.

"I'll read you a story tonight, and every night," Caroline promised, smiling. "What do you want me to read you tonight?"

Seth thought for a while. "Rapunzel?"

Caroline looked at him incredulously as she helped him onto his seat. "Rapunzel?" she repeated. "But honey, that's a girl's story. Don't you want something else? Like Toy Story?"

"No, I've heard that so many times," Seth pouted, picking at his sandwich. "I want Rapunzel. I think she's pretty like you, mummy. And she has long hair like you too!"

Caroline frowned as she helped cut his sandwich into tinier pieces. "But I don't have hair that long, baby. But if you want me to read that to you tonight, then okay."

Seth cheered, waving his fists victoriously in the hair. Caroline threw him a teasing, scolding look as some of his sandwich bits fell off the table. Seth giggled as he quietened down and ate his sandwich properly. Caroline shook her head and laughingly threatened to force feed him with lettuce if he messed with his food again.

In the midst of their banter, a servant intruded politely to inform Caroline that there was a guest at the door. Caroline's eyes narrowed as she wiped the corners of her mouth daintily and rose.

"Who is it?" she asked her servant sharply.

"I haven't seen him come here before, Miss Lobo," her servant replied warily.

"Him?" Caroline echoed. "Describe him."

Her servant seemed slightly surprised by her employer's attitude, but proceeded to elucidate the details of her guest, "He's a tall young man, about your age, Miss Lobo. He specifically demanded to see you and Seth."

"Seth?" Caroline's face clouded over. Rashly, she pulled Seth from his seat, handed him the last of his sandwich and pushed him to her servant. "Take him upstairs." She turned to her butler who was on stand-by. "Let the guest in."

Unfortunately, based on the description, Seth already had an idea who the guest was. He turned to his mother pleadingly, "Mummy, mummy. It's Daddy! Can I go see him? Please please please?"

Caroline ignored him, and spoke severely to her servant, "Ignore him. Take him upstairs. I don't want him to see the guest."

"But mummy, I want to see Daddy!"

Caroline shouted at her servant. "Bring him upstairs. Now!"

By then, Seto had already stormed into the dining hall, and naturally saw his son being led up the stairs, struggling and crying as he went. "Let him go!" he ordered. He turned to Caroline. "Carol, what's the meaning of all this? Why did you take Seth away?"

Caroline caught sight of her guilt-ridden servant halting at the stairway, and once again she shouted, "Lea, I said, take Seth upstairs! Now!" She held her hands apart as she stood at the stairway. "Stop right there, Seto. Don't move any further."

"Why not?" Seto shot back. "Stop separating me and my son."

"Your son?" Caroline was near hysterical now, panic clearly seeping in. "Your son? No he's not. He's my son! My son! I carried him for nine months alone. I nursed him, I raised him for five years. Alone. Just because it's thanks to you he's born, and just because I managed to get you to give your last name to him, that makes him your son?"

Seto seemed genuinely confused by her ranting. "Carol, what the hell are you talking about? He's your son, but he's my son too!"

"No!" Caroline ran up to shield Seth from Seto's sight. "No! I'm not going to let you take away my son!"

"Carol."

"You hear me? I'm not letting you take away my son! He's the only one I have," Caroline was pleading in tears by now. "Seto, please. You have Mokuba, you have Tea. I only have Seth. Please, don't take away my life. I beg you, Seto, please."

Seto's gaze softened as he neared her. "Carol…"

"Please, Seto, don't take my only life away," Caroline was already slumped and sobbing uncontrollably, clutching at her son every so often as she did so. "Please. Please. Just leave and let me be with Seth."

Seto knelt down and gently held his weeping ex-wife. "Carol," he spoke smoothly. "Carol, that's enough. I'm not going to take him away. He's your son more than he is mine. But please, Caroline, don't do this to Seth. Don't separate him from his family. Don't make him anymore confused than he is."

"If you take him away, I'll die, Seto," Caroline repeated.

"I promise you, I won't take him away," Seto assured her firmly. "He'll stay with you, but he can come visit me on weekends. But you," He eyed her sternly but gently, "You have to learn to let go. We cannot be together, not even for Seth's sake. I want you to promise me something, Caroline. Promise me you'll move on. Promise me you'll find someone better than me to be your companion. Can I have your word, Carol?"

Caroline bit her lip, hesitating. Seto shook her shoulders lightly and repeated his question. Finally, she nodded her head. Warily at first, then she nodded again with more vigor. Seto let out a huge sigh, murmured thank you and gave her a friendly hug with a free hand extended to welcome their son into the fold.

* * *

**A/N: well... guess what? i thought of stopping here butttttttt i'm already working on an optional epilogue for this story. so that upcoming short drabble is when everything should really end. i just need inspiration for a wedding [i'm sure this part is pretty predictable]-laughs-**


	41. Epilogue

**A/N: as promised, the epilogue that wraps this entire story up! (:**

**thank you to every single one of you for reading this fic till the end! thank you thank you thank you!**

**on a side-note, i wrote this while listening to Yoshiki's Symphonic Concert, so yes, thank you Yoshiki-san for inspiring this epilogue [and making a cameo HAHA]**

**anw, my last gift for you guys for this story,**

**i sincerely hope you guys like it, and the story overall (:**

**see you all soon~!**

**love,**

**fika1603**

* * *

Mischa beamed as Tea twirled slowly in front of the full-length mirror to admire the red one-shouldered Vera Wang dress that came along with the package Roland had passed to her upon his employer's request. As promised, Seto had flown back to New York from Milan, bringing Seth along, and together they flew back to Domino City in time for the weekends. The moment they touched down in their hometown, Seto had urged her to open the envelope attached to the package, and to Tea's pleasant surprise, it was two pairs of VIP tickets for the philharmonic concert held tonight. Normally, Tea would not have been so eager to go since her taste wasn't exactly in orchestra music, but once she saw that Yoshiki would be the conductor, she succumbed to excitement. Seto had smiled smugly at her response.

So now, naturally, the news somehow reached Mischa's ears, and the self-proclaimed fashionista of KaibaCorp had showed up on Tea's doorstep to fit her for the concert that night. It took Tea quite a lot of assurance towards Mischa that the Vera Wang dress was fine plain as it was and that Mischa had no need to modify it. Mischa, obviously, compensated the lack of embellishment on the dress by taking out of her duffel bag a set of rhinestone and diamond jewelry to pair the dress with.

"Are you sure you want me to wear this?" Tea asked again, holding up a rather thick necklace, glancing at the image consultant.

"Yes," Mischa replied confidently, taking the necklace from Tea and putting it on for her. "There! You see, you look so much better now! Trust Mr Boss to be so drab in his choice of outfit."

Tea laughed. "Having you as his image consultant hasn't changed anything," she teased.

Mischa snorted. "I know right. He's such a hopeless imbecile when it comes to fashion." She fitted a pair of diamond studs on Tea's ears, and smiled. "You know, he made me order this dress for you quite some time ago. And I didn't even know it was for you. Anyway," she regarded Tea at an arm's length. "You look splendid. I can only pray now Mr Boss won't spoil this picture perfect image by wearing something really ugly."

"He's not that bad, you know," Tea tried to defend him weakly.

"Oh he is," Mischa refuted her friend's admonition. "If it wasn't for me, good grief… he'll be wearing some boring suit of some boring colour combination and trying to blend in and at the same time being flamboyant."

Tea laughed as she shook her head in disbelief. "Do you actually talk like that to him? I mean, he's your boss!"

Mischa grinned. "I'm the only one he gives such privilege." As if on cue, she pulled back the curtains and peered out of the window onto the street before turning excitedly to Tea, "That's your ride! Wait, is he coming out?" She squinted her eyes as she continued to peer at the black Mercedes that had just pulled up outside Tea's house. "Oh no he isn't. What a loser. After everything he still doesn't know how to treat a woman. In any case, Roland seems to be heading towards your door to invite you into the car, so you might as well go –" The doorbell rang. "Now."

Tea laughed again before leaning in to give Mischa a tight hug. The usually amiable Indonesian seemed embarrassed by her friend's overly excited act, and awkwardly patted Tea's back. "Don't trip and fall," she warned as Tea ran out of the door.

"I won't!" Tea called out in response. Hurriedly she fled down the stairs and flung her front door open. Roland seemed taken aback at the sight of her, but quickly recovered his composure. He bowed and gestured towards the waiting black Mercedes. Tea thanked him cheerfully as he held open the car door for her and she climbed into the backseat. To her surprise, it was filled with three age groups of the opposite gender: toddler, teenager, adult. All slick and elegant in their matching pressed black shirts, black suits and red ties.

"Tea!" Mokuba shouted in excitement, rushing forward to give her a hug.

"Hello Mama Tea!" a little blond boy beside him greeted just as happily, leaning in to give her a hug and peck on the cheek.

The young man with them said nothing, but glanced at her with a soft smile playing on his lips and gave her a slight nod of acknowledgement. Tea smiled back at him even as she returned the hugs of the other two boys.

"Stop destroying her dress," Seto said gruffly.

"It's okay, Seto," Tea assured him as she propped Seth onto her lap. "It's just a dress. I'd rather destroy a dress than destroy this happiness." She reached out a hand to touch his, and startled, he turned to look at her. She whispered gently, "Thank you. For making me part of your family."

Seto thought about her words for a while, then chuckled and squeezed her hand. "I should be the one thanking you," he mumbled. His words literally sounded crass, but Tea could detect the gentleness behind them. He peered out of the limousine's heavily tinted windows. "We're here."

Tea glanced at him nervously. "Is there anything I should do?"

Seto thought for a while, then chuckled. "Just wait to be led out of the car. And don't trip and fall."

She gave him a mock death glare and stuck out her tongue. Between them, Mokuba rolled his eyes and gave a very huge sigh, causing Seto and Tea each to glance away towards their respective windows. The timing couldn't have been any more apt, because just then, the doors to the limousine were held open.

"Remember, don't trip and fall," Seto reminded as he smirked.

Tea had to resist the urge to shoot him another look as she carefully rearranged her skirt and, taking a deep breath, took Roland's waiting hand to lead her out of the limousine. The moment she stepped out, she was nearly blinded by the lights coming from the snapping cameras. Just as Tea thought she would really trip on her dress and fall, she felt a strong grip on her arm. By the time her vision cleared, her arm was firmly linked in Seto's. Naturally, the KaibaCorp CEO fared better with all the camera attention on him. Behind them, Mokuba and Seth piled out from the limousine, the teenage uncle holding Seth's hand firmly as they trailed behind Seto and Tea.

As Tea forced herself to smile despite her shocked state, she managed to hiss to Seto, "You didn't tell me it'll be a red carpet affair."

"I did say VIP seats," he retorted calmly, pausing once in a while to politely pose for the cameras. "I thought Mischa would've told you."

"Was that why she insisted on me wearing such expensive jewelry today?" she commented, pausing and smiling at the camera in time with Seto.

Seto tried to keep a straight face as he answered, "You're talking about Mischa. She doesn't need a red carpet occasion to force expensive stuffs upon you."

Tea could not resist but let out a huge sigh of relief once they entered the performance hall and subsequently away from the prying eyes of the cameras. Seto afforded another smirk at her before he turned behind to see if his brother and son had caught up. They had. Gently untangling his arm from Tea's, he knelt down and scooped Seth up. Once he had balanced his son on one hand, he held a free hand out to Mokuba.

"Come on, Mokie," he said quietly. "Or are you too old and too cool to hang with me?"

Mokuba made a face but ran over to Seto's side, anyway. He was about to take his brother's hand, then hesitated as he glanced at Tea. Instead, he nudged his brother towards her. At Seto's quizzical look, he said cheekily, "You should be holding someone else's hand, not mine. I'm too old and too cool for that. But never too old or too cool to hang with you."

If it was even possible, Seto looked rather awkward at his brother's words. Tea could have sworn her face was as red as her dress. Nevertheless, Seto acceded to his brother's request and took her hand as they proceeded to their VIP seats. Along the way, they ran into some of his acquaintances who inquired after Seth and Tea, only for Seto to say simply that they would know very soon. Luckily, their seats were in between people who knew him by name and face but had no personal relationship with him, leaving Seto and his family relatively outside company-free.

The moment they settled themselves in their seats, the lights dimmed, and some section of the audience started to cheer as the lights came onto the orchestra members and the conductor walked in. Tea had wanted to cheer as well, but noting that she would be the only one in the VIP section to do so, she settled for a hearty applause. The moment the first violin started to play for the first song of the concert, Tea was grateful Seto thought of bringing her to see this. Once the second song was done, and the lights came on blue to reveal Yoshiki seated at the piano, ready to deliver the third song, Tea forgot all about her boyfriend.

Once in a while, Seto glanced at Tea, and seeing her so delighted at seeing her favourite musician live, it was enough to make him happy. At other times, he would glance over at his brother and son. Surprisingly, even Mokuba was enthralled by the performances. Seth, meanwhile seemed to have dozed off. Seto smiled lightly and placed a gentle, comforting hand on his son. He made a mental note to think of a quick place to have supper; Seth would wake up hungry. Personally, Seto found himself enjoying the concert – he had no idea who Yoshiki was, or any general preference for classical music, even. But the music that was delivered by the orchestra was well-written, pure and played with emotion, it was hard for anyone including Seto not to appreciate it.

The concert lasted for about two hours, and by the time it ended, Tea was already in tears, Mokuba had found a new idol, Seth was still asleep and Seto was just plain indifferent. Seeing that it would be hopeless to try to talk to either his fiancée or his brother at this time, he opted to wake his son up. Gently, he shook his son's shoulders.

"Seth," he whispered. "Seth, wake up. It's over. Let's go for supper."

Seth did not stir. Seto sighed and tried again. "Seth, come on. Wake up. Don't you want to go for supper?"

Still no response. Tea placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Let him sleep," she suggested. "We'll just carry him to the car."

Seto frowned. "But he'll want supper," he muttered. He ignored her suggestion and tried once again to wake his son up. "Seth? Seth?" His son, instead of waking up, just slumped forward. That was enough to throw Seto into panic as he caught his son and shook his shoulders harder this time. "Seth? Seth? Wake up!" He turned to Mokuba and commanded, "Mokuba, get Roland to get the car over right now."

Mokuba looked on in fright at his motionless nephew. "Big Brother, is Seth alright?"

"Just go get Roland. Hurry!"

XO XO XO XO

He placed a fresh bouquet of carnations, letting it lean against the stone slab. Once again, he ran his thumb over the inscriptions on it, and stared hard at the photo.

Everything happened too fast, he thought sorrowfully. Would you still be proud of me?

He felt a hand on his shoulder. He blinked a few times to gain back his composure before he turned behind. Tea gave his shoulder a reassuring squeeze, accompanied with an equally reassuring smile. Seto sighed deeply, paused and nodded back in acknowledgement.

"We have to let those who are gone go," she said softly. "Otherwise, they can't be in peace."

Seto stayed silent for a while before he finally spoke, "I know. But once in a while, when you think about them… it's hard." He glanced behind her. "Where's Seth? I brought him here to get to know his grandparents."

Tea looked behind her, searching for her future stepson. He was at some corner playing with a stray rabbit, but once he caught sight of his father and Tea looking for him, he ran over to them, beaming as he carried a bunch of marigolds in his hand.

"Daddy!" he exclaimed, waving the flowers in the air. "I want to meet grandma!"

Seto grumbled as he hoisted the feisty boy in his arms and carried him to the altar. "You just only recently fully recovered, Seth. Stop running around and giving me unnecessary heart attacks."

Tea pinched Seto's arm as she scolded him, "You, let your son grow up with a sense of adventure."

"Yes, but remember the orchestra? He nearly gave me a heart attack," Seto argued. However, his argument was not sustained for long once he had brought Seth face to face with the photo on the stone slab. He placed a finger on the photo, and gently caressing it, he told his son quietly, "Seth, pay your respects to your grandmother."

Seth dutifully placed his flowers beside Seto's and to his father's abject horror, leaned forward to kiss the photo. Once he was done, he smiled happily at it, "It was nice to meet you, grandma."

As Seto heard his son's words, his gaze once again rested on his mother's photo. This piercing feeling in my heart… the words suddenly tumbled into his mind. You would have been happy to see Seth, wouldn't you? Mother, you're still proud of me, aren't you?

Once again, the reassuring hand on his shoulder. Without turning around, Seto heard Tea say, "Don't worry, Seto. I'm sure your mother is proud of you, far more than you can imagine."

Seto said nothing, just shrugged. He cast one last look at his mother's photo on the slab, before he turned on his heels and announcing, "Come on. We should at least be early for Carol's big day. Even if she did end up with that snitchbag of a bank president."

Tea scowled. "His name is Suwa Nagawaki, and he's a good person. You just don't like him because he's much more liked by everyone than you are."

"I don't need to be liked by the world," Seto snorted in response. "As long as I have a decent public image, and I'm liked by people I care about, that's enough."

Tea raised an eyebrow. "Like who?"

Despite his annoyance, Seto afforded her a smirk. "Who else?" He held out a hand. "Shall we go?"

Tea rolled her eyes, but gladly took his hand, anyway. As they walked back to the car, Tea could not help but feel as if the cherry blossoms in her love notes had finally bloomed richly. Surely there had been deep cuts that left scars in those notes, but if it wasn't for those scars, neither she nor Seto would have understood the complexity of this feeling. For her, it turned out to be being by his side; for Seto, meanwhile, it had been a different journey. For the first time in a long time, it was generally admitted by people who knew him – Mokuba, Tea, Yugi, Mischa, even Nana – that he was a much more mellow character. As Nana put it, the ice in him had finally melted, and it was Tea's warmth and Seth's and Mokuba's pure love that had done the trick. Perhaps then the saying is true: scars are indeed the core for the notes in a symphony called love.


End file.
